Matchroom Boxing and worldwide streaming platform DAZN have signed a five-year global broadcasting deal.
From July 2021, DAZN will now be the global home of Matchroom Boxing and its worldwide stable of fighters – that will see at least 16 Matchroom UK fight nights broadcast every year, in addition to the promotional company’s current offerings in the US and Europe, with further markets to follow.
The deal will begin on July 31 with the return of Matchroom’s popular Fight Camp series and three back-to-back weekends of boxing, with a full summer and autumn schedule to follow.
The agreement follows the expiration of Matchroom’s contract with Sky Sports in the UK, which paved the way for the groundbreaking deal with DAZN. Matchroom and Sky Sports had worked together for the past 27 years dating back to the days of Chris Eubank Sr. The last Matchroom show on Sky Sports will be on June 12 when Lewis Ritson meets Jeremias Nicholas Ponce in Newcastle.
Matchroom Boxing Chairman Eddie Hearn said: “We have made the monumental decision to sign a historic five-year deal with sports streaming giant DAZN. This means that our UK events will now be broadcast live on DAZN along with all Matchroom shows across the world. Pushing the boundaries is something we will always continue to do and we needed a partner that shared our vision for boxing, and who was also willing to make the investment to make those dreams a reality.
“This is also an amazing opportunity for our newly formed production and content business, Matchroom Media, who will now be responsible for live production across our events, working in close collaboration with DAZN and enabling us to form a cradle to grave mindset across inception to completion of our shows so we can deliver the live event experience to the viewer in the narrative and style in which we have built it. As we continue Matchroom’s expansion worldwide, this new deal will enable us to further cement DAZN as THE unrivalled global home of boxing. Our aim, alongside DAZN, is to create the biggest and best live fight nights and deliver a viewing experience that is truly game-changing.”