Global sports juggernaut DAZN has struck a deal to acquire EverPass Media from the investment arm of the National Football League (NFL) and other stakeholders, and will use the platform to launch a new business-focused operation that caters to bars, restaurants and other public venues.
The new venture, called DAZN for Business, will continue to sell access to NFL Sunday Ticket and other premium sports packages to businesses, non-profits and public venues, the company affirmed on Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Following the acquisition, EverPass will rebrand as DAZN for Business. EverPass CEO Alex Kaplan will continue to lead the business and take on a broader role within DAZN. RedBird Capital Partners, 32 Equity and TKO Group Holdings will become minority shareholders in DAZN, the company said.
Existing EverPass customers will continue receiving service and support without interruption. This season, the NFL Sunday Ticket is being jointly sold to restaurants, bars and other venues through EverPass and DIRECTV for Business under a limited-time arrangement.
EverPass also provides commercial venues with access to programming from the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NWSL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, MLS, Formula 1, college football and college basketball. The company has distribution partnerships with Peacock, Netflix, Paramount, Apple, YES Network and Chicago Sports Network.
DAZN said the acquisition will allow it to serve sports audiences across consumer and commercial environments, from individual subscribers using the DAZN app to businesses showing live sports to customers.
“This is an important step in DAZN’s journey to become a global home of sport,” DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev said in a statement. “EverPass Media gives us a proven commercial distribution platform, deep relationships across U.S. venues, and an attractive portfolio of premium rights that perfectly complements our growing U.S. business.”
EverPass says it has developed new technology that will cater to public venues with multiple screens, including a centralized management system for delivering live events across in-venue TV sets.
But the decision to make NFL Sunday Ticket exclusively available through EverPass this season caused some heartburn for smaller restaurants and bars, who said they already had working DIRECTV equipment and were unable to make the financial investments necessary to switch from that platform to EverPass.
Some commercial establishments made the switch anyway, only to learn that DIRECTV for Business was able to reach a new agreement to carry the NFL Sunday Ticket through this season. Many have complained on social media about spending thousands of dollars in equipment purchases and upgrades to support EverPass only to feel duped after EverPass allowed DIRECTV for Business to continue carrying the package.
