Dazn’s Pete Oliver on growth, ‘insane’ fights, boxing’s golden era and TKO
Dazn’s CEO of Growth Markets Pete Oliver is bullish about the sports streamer’s growth as it leans into boxing and its Saudi relationship – and, he says, Dana White’s TKO is welcome.
What’s the only thing crazier than stopping rush hour traffic in downtown New York City to stage a high-profile boxing event in Times Square? Probably not stopping the rush hour traffic to hold said fight night – but that’s exactly what’s planned next month when the Ring Magazine takes over the Big Apple attraction for a bill featuring bitter rivals Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.
Broadcasting the show exclusively around the world will be Dazn, the London-headquartered global sports streaming platform which is increasingly looking like the undisputed home of boxing. The fight is part of a Cinco de Mayo weekend double bill also featuring Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, and Dazn expects it to create a major spectacle.
“It is going to be insane,” Pete Oliver, CEO of Growth Markets, tells City PM. “I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work yet. The roads are still open, and they’re going to put this boxing ring in the middle, only 200 seats, all the screens showing the fight. I think this will be one of the most crazy, shared-on-social-media sports events people have ever seen.”
This is, Oliver says, “a bit of a golden era for the sport”. Barriers to the biggest fights, such as boxers being signed to rival broadcasters, are coming down. Rival promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren are now both with Dazn and have a burgeoning bromance (a promance?). The result, he says, is double-digit audience growth last year.
“We’ve got over 40 promoters now, and here in the UK in particular, I think Frank joining with Queensberry means that, really, you’ve got 80 per cent plus of the really good British fighters on one platform,” Oliver says. “The sport’s been really fragmented for years. When I was growing up, it was on different TV channels. Because all the fights are in one place, that’s helping.”
Talking Turki: Dazn, Saudi and Dana White
There is, of course, a common thread between the Times Square stunt, truces between warring promoters and Dazn’s grip on boxing: Saudi Arabia, or to be more precise, the vast sums it has poured into sport through its Public Investment Fund, impresario Turki Alalshikh, Riyadh Season and, more recently, Surj Sports Investment.
Alalshikh, through his acquisition of the Ring Magazine, is staging the Garcia event and is also sponsoring Conor Benn’s showdown with Chris Eubank Jr in Tottenham later this month. His Riyadh Season operation, meanwhile, has put up enough money to get sworn enemies to set differences aside and arrange huge cards in Saudi, London and beyond.
Surj, meanwhile, bought a minority stake in Dazn earlier this year. It will see the creation of a joint venture, Dazn MENA, and a dedicated app in Arabic. Other details are scarce but at the time the deal was billed as promising “to showcase the best of Saudi sport and Saudi-based events to a global audience”.
Saudi Arabia’s largesse hasn’t gone unnoticed in the US, where UFC boss Dana White has tapped Alalshikh to back a new boxing league launching next year. While it is being seen as a potential threat to established promoters, Oliver says Dazn sees the entry of White and TKO Holdings, which owns UFC and the WWE, as an opportunity.
“We have a partnership with TKO already in a number of countries,” he says. “I think it’s very positive that they’re coming into boxing. To have a big character like Dana White is only a good thing. They haven’t announced their broadcast partnerships yet, so we’ll see where the content is available. We’re always in the discussion with everyone.”