Mixed martial arts promotion UFC has announced that international streaming service DAZN will remain its broadcast home in Germany and Austria through 2027.
Every UFC event through the course of the deal will be broadcast live exclusively on DAZN, including top-line numbered events and fight nights with German-language commentary.
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Furthermore, shoulder content such as previews, reviews, pre-fight press conferences, and weigh-ins, as well as ancillary programming such as highlights packages and The Ultimate Fighter TV series, will also be included on DAZN.
DAZN has been UFC’s broadcaster in Germany and Austria since October 2018, and the promotion hopes that this latest deal may serve as a jumping-off point for hosting future live events in the region.
There are currently four active German fighters on the UFC roster, middleweight Abusupiyan Magomedov, welterweight Islam Dulatov, and lightweights Nasrat Haqparast, and Ottman Azaitar
Two Austrians, light heavyweight Aleksandar Rakic, and middleweight Ismail Naurdiev, are also currently signed to the promotion.
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By GlobalDataThe next UFC event featuring a German fighter will be in February, when Dulatov will make his debut, and then on March 1’s UFC Fight Night 253, when Haqparast will face Esteban Ribovics.
This deal helps DAZN sweep up MMA rights in Germany and Austria, where the OTT service is also the broadcaster of the rival Professional Fighters League promotion, as well as its Champions Series events.
That deal includes PFL Europe, the promotion’s regional league for the continent which has hosted an event in Germany in the past.
The extension of DAZN’s MMA rights in Germany is the latest in a string of high-profile rights acquisitions by the firm as it looks to compete against the likes of streaming giants Netflix and Prime Video.
To this end, DAZN’s billionaire owner Leonard Blavatnik has invested as much as $6.7 billion into the service, including $827 million in 2023 alone.
This was revealed in the platform’s set of financial accounts for the 2023 financial year, which were made public this month, showcasing a pre-tax loss of $1.43 billion (a growth from the loss of $1.2 billion in 2022) despite a growth in revenue year-on-year from $2.19 billion to $2.86 billion.
DAZN’s user base grew in the year, as did its paid subscription tier, but that was still not enough to offset its operational costs, mostly composed of spiraling accumulated rights fees.
Rights costs for DAZN in 2023 amounted to $3.1 billion, up by 32% ($757 million) on the $2.4 billion it paid across 2022.
The service still has $9.4 billion in sports rights fees it has committed to pay across the coming years.
