DAZN CEO projects IPO within next three years

DAZN, the international sports streaming company, is considering renewing its IPO plans in two to three years but also is open to more strategic investors, CEO Shay Segev told Bloomberg.

Why it matters: As the cost of sports rights rises, DAZN is still posting significant losses to support its bet in the value of sports-focused streaming brand.

Driving the news: "I really don't have any preference, I would just think that it actually makes sense for this to become a public company," Segev told Bloomberg. "The Netflix story, the Amazon story — I think DAZN is going there as well."

Flashback: DAZN North America CEO Joe Markowski told Sara Fischer in September that the company paused its IPO plans to focus on profitability and expansion.

• It had acquired U.K.-based Eleven Group's global sports media businesses, which includes Team Whistle.

By the numbers: But profitability is not yet in the horizon. DAZN lost $1.3 billion in both 2019 and 2020, Axios reported.

• Its 2021 losses were $2.3 billion whereas revenue was $1.56 billion, per Bloomberg.

What they're saying: Whereas DAZN continues to buy up more rights, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said his streaming giant has not yet invested in any due to cost concerns.

• "We've not seen a profit path to renting big sports today, not to say there never will be. I'd say the economic models that are built around it are built around the economics of paid television," Sarandos said at UBS Global TMT Conference last month.