DAZN in talks to acquire FanDuel Sports Network

M&A

Main Street Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel-branded regional sports networks, is in talks to sell a majority stake in itself to DAZN, Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal reported.

Under the deal, which per Thomas could be announced as early as next month, DAZN could make a “sizable cash investment” in Main Street and integrate the FanDuel Sports Network app with its existing streaming platform.

The news comes nearly two years after Amazon initially announced plans to invest in the RSN business, then known as Diamond Sports Group. That investment would have been $115 million, but Amazon pulled the offer within months amid uncertainty over the future of the RSNs, which were still in bankruptcy proceedings at the time. Main Street has since exited bankruptcy.

DAZN does not carry anywhere near the profile of Amazon, but it is a major player in sports broadcasting outside of the United States. The company, which was briefly run by ex-ESPN president John Skipper, has thus far operated on the outskirts of the domestic sports media scene — with this past year’s FIFA Club World Cup arguably the highest-profile programming that it has carried on U.S. television. An acquisition of the nation’s largest RSN owner would obviously change that significantly.

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