DAZN has completed a group leadership restructure, to help support its global growth ambitions to become the dominant OTT entertainment platform for sports fans.   

Updating media, DAZN informed that Shay Segev would take on the sole duties of Group CEO having formally served as a joint-CEO alongside company Co-Founder James Rushton.

The former CEO of Entain Plc was branded as an indispensable asset for DAZN to scale up its business and help expand its customer offering with new verticals to enjoy alongside its sports streaming service.

Meanwhile, Rushton will continue his existing duties of overseeing growth in local markets, rights and content distribution.

DAZN’s leadership makeover is finalised by the appointment of Darren Waterman as Group CFO. Waterman joins the company from Amazon, where he formerly served as Finance Director of the technology giant’s Prime Video division. 

Waterman was branded as an ‘outstanding addition’ to DAZN’s leadership team, having successfully expanded Prime Video’s geographic reach, video streaming, product innovation and investment in sports, TV and movie content.

“Shay’s technology background and outstanding history of delivering a strong performance culture will be hugely beneficial as DAZN introduces additional interactive fan engagement services such as betting and e-commerce for users to enjoy alongside our core offering of live sports streaming,” Kevin Mayer, DAZN Group Chairman, commented on the leadership transformation. 

“James’ expertise in sports rights and deep understanding of the markets will ensure that DAZN continues to nurture and grow its core business. We thank Stuart for his many valuable contributions and look forward to his on-going involvement in this new capacity and we are delighted to be onboarding such strong talent as Darren Waterman.  Being able to attract such high calibre individuals is a testament to the strength of our business and our future.”

Closing its statement, DAZN underscored its commercial momentum – having won the domestic rights for the top-flight LaLiga in Spain and being named Apple TV App of the Year for 2021.

Last week, UK media reported that DAZN led a $850 million pursuit to acquire BT Sport, in a bid to establish its UK presence by becoming a Premier League media rights holder and the exclusive broadcaster of UEFA Champions League Matches.

DAZN is one of the most closely followed tech enterprises, as analysts predict that its investors may pursue a London Stock Exchange IPO, should the company deliver on a  successful 2022.