Whether Foxtel’s top executives including chief Patrick Delany and streaming and advertising boss Julian Ogrin will be kept on is not yet known.

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Questions also linger over DAZN’s formal relationship with Saudi Arabia and potential investment from its sovereign Public Investment Fund. Multiple outlets have reported the PIF will invest US$1 billion ($1.57bn) into DAZN. Last week, Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the 2034 FIFA World Cup host. The week prior, DAZN was announced as the surprise broadcaster for the newly revamped FIFA Club World Cup next year.

Investment would likely help fund both the FIFA and Foxtel deals.

A year ago, chief executive Shay Segev outlined DAZN’s vision to become the global destination platform for global sports fans, akin to Spotify or Netflix in their respective marketplaces, and to fix the fragmentation of sports consumption.

DAZN has built up its subscriber base by purchasing rights to major competitions in Western Europe, in particular football rights packages in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It is yet to crack the largest market in England, however, with most of its presence centred around boxing. It failed in a 2022 bid to purchase BT Sports, a pay TV group in the United Kingdom which would have immediately given it access to one of the English Premier League’s lucrative rights packages.

While DAZN will get access to broadcast rights for the AFL, NRL, cricket, Supercars and other major international sports, it will also have to decide what to do with Foxtel’s other assets.

One of those is its streaming aggregation business Hubbl, which the company spent around $200 million launching this year.

Foxtel has long-term deals with AFL and cricket until 2031, while the NRL is looking to secure a new broadcast rights deal beginning in 2027. The deal will leave questions over how committed the British company is to domestic Australian sport, with many of Foxtel’s rights deals central to the funding of sport in Australia, in particular with Cricket Australia, the NRL and AFL.

Foxtel also carries a debt load of $1.2 billion.

DAZN, which broadcasts the NFL, MMA and UEFA Women’s Champions League in Australia, emerged as the likely buyer for Foxtel after talks broke down between News Corp and US private equity firm Platinum over the former’s unrealistic asking price.

Should DAZN receive investment from the PIF, it would give Saudi Arabia greater influence in major markets, including some of Europe’s largest economies, and Australian sport. The PIF has already poured billions into sport, including Formula 1 which will begin its new season in Melbourne next year, while its LIV Golf tournament hosts an event in Adelaide.

More to come