Foxtel Group has made dozens of staff redundant weeks after it was acquired by DAZN. The media company confirmed the job losses but would not comment on exact numbers.
It has been reported by The Age that the scale of redundancies could be as high as 100 staff, primarily in its engineering and marketing teams. According to figures supplied to the government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 100 redundancies would amount to 5 per cent of Foxtel’s 2,000-strong workforce.
A Foxtel spokesperson told B&T: “As part of the DAZN Group, we now have the opportunity to continue our transformation and take advantage of their global engineering and services. We are also working with DAZN to share our world-class product and technology expertise.
“This week our teams have had the difficult task of speaking with a number of highly skilled and highly valued people that will leave the Foxtel Group. We are grateful to every team member that has helped us grow the business and put us in the position of strength we are in today.”
As B&T reported earlier this week, Foxtel will not be shelving its smart TV product Hubbl. However, this does not mean that the shape of the Hubbl operation is not under review.
“Naturally, having made a significant marketing investment to build consumer awareness and establish a market position in its first year, we are now looking at how best to maintain Hubbl as a more mature business within the Foxtel Group portfolio of products,” the spokesperson added.
Hubbl was a major bet for Foxtel Group when it launched just over a year ago. Its aim was to provide a one-stop shop for viewers to watch free-to-air BVODs and subscription TV on one box, essentially entering the smart TV business where Foxtel could monetise user viewing behaviour in a single ecosystem.
News Corp filings revealing it had spent at least $US62 million (about A$98 million) over 18 months to bring Hubbl to market. However, insiders estimate the total costs are closer to the $100 million–$200 million mark.
DAZN Group concluded the acquisition of Foxtel in April for a deal valued at $3.4 billion.
The Foxtel acquisition provides DAZN with 1.4 million paying cable customers and 3.2 million paying streaming subscribers across Kayo Sports and Binge. The group generated $3 billion in revenue and $496 million in earnings in FY24.
Foxtel Group also makes DAZN the largest individual sports rights holder in Australia. Foxtel should benefit from DAZN’s technology and global reach as the world’s largest standalone sports streamer.
