John Skipper steps down at DAZN, Kevin Mayer appointed new Chairman

[Ruthless-RKO]

John Skipper steps down at DAZN, Kevin Mayer appointed new Chairman

Skipper will remain on the Board of Directors and serve as an adviser

John Skipper has stepped down as Chairman of the Board at DAZN Group, and will be replaced by former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, it was announced on Tuesday.

Skipper will remain on DAZN’s Board of Directors and serve as a “strategic adviser,” and will also be working with Meadowlark Media, a new content company DAZN plan to invest in and collaborate with for programming.

This one is pure “business world” stuff for the most part, but DAZN have become such an important and even vital player in the boxing world that it’s certainly worth a note, something to consider.

“I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished over the past several years. We’ve secured rights to the world’s premier sports leagues, dramatically increased subscriptions and revenues, and launched our platform in more than 200 countries and territories,” said Skipper. “It’s the ideal moment to transition the company into its next phase of growth. Having worked closely with Kevin at The Walt Disney Company for more than two decades, I can’t think of a better person to lead the DAZN Group Board of Directors.”

“As Chairman, I’m looking forward to partnering with the management team and my fellow directors to help DAZN build on its impressive track record of success in developing a truly global sports platform,” said Mayer. “Since I began working with Access Industries last year, I’ve been impressed with DAZN’s ambitions and ability to quickly grow from a new entrant to an important player in key markets throughout the world. I look forward to guiding DAZN’s strategic development into its next chapter.”

“As the world of sports and media continues to transform, DAZN Group remains a key holding within the Access portfolio,” said Len Blavatnik, Chairman of Access Industries and DAZN Group’s majority investor. “A seamless transition from John to Kevin and the recent move to deepen the executive team’s expertise with co-CEOs James Rushton and Shay Segev will accelerate the company’s momentum.”

[Enlightened-One]

Apparently Len Blavatnik had to loan DAZN $1bn in January to keep the streaming service afloat and also partially fund its growth.

DAZN had previously tried to raise $1bn back in August, via an IPO, and before that, another $500m from separate private investments, but I guess those plans were scuppered due to the pandemic inevitably affecting its valuation.

It's not unusual for companies to change management teams, but the new man in charge has a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders.

[Onetimeonly]

Bad news for dazn USA. Skippers connections to landing a major sport here were the only chance for success.

[Las Vegas boxing guy]

Bad news for dazn USA. Skippers connections to landing a major sport here were the only chance for success.

Agreed. Now we are counting on a Walt Disney executive to bring us the fights we want. Does Kevin Mayer even know the first thing about boxing? Does he even care at all about the sport and its loyal fans?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Skipper is gonna advise..

How much influence though.

[Enlightened-One]

Skipper is gonna advise..

How much influence though.

He’ll advise to ensure a smooth handover of day-to-day operations and also introductions to main point-of-contacts.

And that’s it, he’ll be gone after that.

[Onetimeonly]

Bad news for dazn USA. Skippers connections to landing a major sport here were the only chance for success.

Agreed. Now we are counting on a Walt Disney executive to bring us the fights we want. Does Kevin Mayer even know the first thing about boxing? Does he even care at all about the sport and its loyal fans?

Don't even know who Mayer is, Americans don't care about boxing. No reason to invest in it. Skippers connects in major sports were dazns only shot, for some reason they thought boxing was only ignored here because of the expense to watch it.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

At its core, dazn is a good idea and the app is good too.

[Las Vegas boxing guy]

At its core, dazn is a good idea and the app is good too.

I agree. Next Friday night DAZN will show the Sor Rungasvai fight live from Thailand. The following evening Chocolatito is going up against Estrada. That's some solid boxing action.

I also believe that ESPN+ is worth the purchase, it's only $5.99 per month. Tomorrow they will show the Tony Yoka fight live in France.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Exactly had those cheaper great fights been their strategy from the start instead of major signings it could have worked

Eddie hearn and al haymon pissed away about a billion dollars between them since 2015 and the sport is in a worse spot than ever

[iestyn500]

At its core, dazn is a good idea and the app is good too.

I agree. Next Friday night DAZN will show the Sor Rungasvai fight live from Thailand. The following evening Chocolatito is going up against Estrada. That's some solid boxing action.

I also believe that ESPN+ is worth the purchase, it's only $5.99 per month. Tomorrow they will show the Tony Yoka fight live in France.

Yeh too many people don't talk about how good ESPN and ESPNplus has been, quality fights, I assume a lot better content