How oil money and oligarchs are shaping the sale of Foxtel

Rupert Murdoch’s pay TV baby Foxtel is inching closer to a sale with a privately owned British streamer the strongest contender, but the key to getting the complex deal over the line could be Saudi petrodollars.

So what does Saudi Arabia have to do with the sale of Foxtel?

Saudi Arabia may have a hand in News Corp’s Foxtel sale. Rupert Murdoch [left]; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman [right]Credit: Monique Wetsermann

The British buyer in the frame for Foxtel – which owns Binge, Kayo and the pay TV business – is DAZN [“Da-zone”], which is founded and bankrolled by British-American billionaire Len Blavatnik.

Blavatnik, who made his fortune through the privatisation of natural resources after the fall of the Soviet Union, has been instrumental in keeping DAZN (a prominent part of his Access Industries investment portfolio) afloat by pumping billions of dollars into the company since its inception in 2015.

DAZN is backed by British-Ukrainian billionaire Len Blavatnik.Credit: Getty Images

Those billions have gone into snapping up sports broadcast rights and rival platforms to aid DAZN’s quest to become the Spotify or Netflix of sports.

But Blavatnik’s tap has started to run dry. During the 2022 financial year, Blavatnik’s investment into DAZN fell to $US240 million ($380 million), down from $US730 million ($1.16 billion) the year prior. In the three years ending December 2022, DAZN posted losses of $US4.1 billion ($6 billion),

It’s a shift that has industry watchers wondering how DAZN would fund its takeover for Foxtel. That’s where another deal, brewing alongside DAZN’s talks with News Corporation, comes into play, and it could change the Australian sports landscape forever.

Having sustained several years of heavy losses, DAZN started hunting for $US1 billion ($1.57 billion) in investment this year, with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) emerging as its likely benefactor in October.

The PIF has poured billions into sporting and entertainment assets recently, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Saudi Vision 2030” to diversify the oil state’s economy. Clinching the rights to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup last week is part of that initiative, as well as its aspiration of nabbing the rights to host the Olympics in 2040.

It has also spent billions bringing some of the world’s biggest sporting events and stars to the Kingdom, including superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, some of the world’s largest boxing match ups, hosting a new ‘Six Kings Slam’ tennis tournament through investment in administrative body the ATP, as well as Formula One, bringing a race to Jeddah.

What Saudi Arabia doesn’t have is a global media distribution platform, something its regional rival Qatar boasts in BeIN Sport.

While the PIF publicly rejected claims it was to take a stake in DAZN in October, a senior PIF executive confirmed the sovereign fund has been considering, and will likely invest in DAZN. While the PIF has considered several firms, DAZN’s growing Saudi footprint and global aspirations makes the pair ideal partners, said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, due to the confidential nature of the discussions.

As things stand, there has been no official Saudi cash injection, meaning the buyout would be a British company purchasing an Australian, majority American-owned company.

While this may change down the line, either way, the investment would require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), which the Treasury says applies to any foreign investment in an Australian media company regardless of value.

Regulations regarding future Saudi investment are less clear, however.

Saudi Arabia has a long history of human rights abuses. Executions are increasing, according to Amnesty International with 196 in 2022, the highest number in 30 years.

Women, the LGBTQI+ community and some religions face heavy discrimination and the country has strict suppression of free speech. Prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Bin Salman, was murdered by the Saudis in its Turkish embassy.

The Treasury was approached for comment.

The Aussie connection

The petrodollars could flow through to DAZN via PIF’s subsidiary SRJ Sports Investments, led by Australian Danny Townsend, the former chief executive of Sydney FC, and the parent company of domestic football in Australia, the Australian Professional Leagues.

Danny Townsend was in charge of Sydney FC and then Australia’s domestic football leagues before taking up an offer in Saudi Arabia.

Townsend is said to be involved in discussions between DAZN and Foxtel, but was not seen with DAZN boss Shay Segev while visiting Australia last week. He joined SRJ as its founding chief last year, replaced at the APL by James Rushton, the founder and former chief executive of DAZN.

Rushton has since left the APL, and lives in Melbourne. He declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Townsend told this masthead he was not in a position to discuss any involvement SRJ “may have had in or around that deal”.

Adding to the intrigue, is a litany of recent deals pointing to the growing Saudi influence on DAZN, which could soon be one of the largest media players in Australia.

In 2022, DAZN was chosen as one of the founding broadcaster partners for perhaps the most controversial Saudi sports venture to date, LIV Golf, led by Australian Greg Norman.

The same year, DAZN also became the official broadcaster of the Professional Fighting League (PFL), launching a co-venture with the MMA outfit in Europe. Ten months later, SRJ acquired a minority equity stake in the PFL.

DAZN also became official partners for two of the Saudi Pro League’s biggest clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, both owned by the PIF, using the platform to push the profile of the teams and the league to a global audience. DAZN was also the ESports World Cup broadcaster, held in Riyadh this year.

In October, DAZN became shirt sponsor of Spanish second tier football team UD Almería, the streamer’s first team sponsorship. Almería is owned and chaired by Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia’s Minister and chair of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA).

The GEA is central to Saudi Arabia’s expansion into sports and entertainment, operating the Riyadh Season sporting festival, which includes the Six Kings Slam, Snooker Championship and major boxing events, amongst others.

While already broadcasting some events, DAZN is also the official broadcaster of all Riyadh Season events. This includes broadcast the second heavyweight boxing clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh this week, the second title fight this year.

DAZN will broadcast the upcoming Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury rematch.Credit: AP

In September, DAZN’s Middle East and North Africa boss Kacy Grine said the company will over time, become the export vehicle of Saudi sports and entertainment entities.

“This is only the beginning for us. We’re just getting started,” Grine said.

Focus on the pair reached fever pitch this month, as DAZN was announced as the surprise broadcaster for FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup competition, to be held in 2025 for the first time after the world footballing body failed to attract bids from major outfits. It will broadcast all 63 games for free. The deal, said to be worth $US1 billion ($1.57 billion), is considered by some five-times above market value, and was announced a week before Saudi Arabia was controversially confirmed as the 2034 World Cup host.

The London Telegraph speculated the deal will be paid for directly by Saudi investment in DAZN, buying it influence in many of Europe’s top leagues and countries where it has significant presence.

DAZN had planned to enter Australia in early 2020, but its ambitions were curtailed by the pandemic. It eventually launched later that year with an initial monthly price point of $2.99 with a combat sports-only offering. It has since struggled to gain a foothold in the country.

Sources, who couldn’t speak publicly, have suggested that DAZN previously explored a purchase of Optus Sport, the Australian broadcaster of the English Premier League, before turning its attention to Foxtel.

If successful in taking Foxtel off News Corp’s arms, the deal will instantly catapult DAZN from relative obscurity in Australia to becoming the undisputed home of Australia’s biggest sporting codes. Beyond the sports rights, Foxtel’s healthy cash flow would also be welcome.

But a key consideration for the dealmakers and the regulators will be the potential influx of Saudi wealth into DAZN’s coffers and with it Saudi Arabia’s intrusion into Australian sports.

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