Executives at the streaming service DAZN were thrilled Wednesday by an internal report that showed 1.2 million worldwide viewers for Saturday's middleweight title victory by Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez defeated Daniel Jacobs by unanimous decision to add a third middleweight belt to his collection.
It was Alvarez's second fight on DAZN, after signing a 10-fight, $365 million deal with the subscription service late last year. The bout produced a peak U.S. audience of at least 600,000 subscribers, according to two industry sources not authorized to discuss such details publicly.
The fight also was available to stream in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.
DAZN launched in September and offers monthly or annual subscription packages. It started with England's Anthony Joshua winning a heavyweight title defense. Executive chairman John Skipper said last month he hoped DAZN will surpass 1 million U.S. subscribers following its June 8 fight featuring former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
DAZN's revenue for the Alvarez-Jacobs bout was estimated to be near $50 million, according to the industry sources, which exceeded the $48 million in purse money owed to Alvarez and Jacobs.
DAZN offers a Bellator MMA card Saturday from Chicago and will stream Joshua's three-belt heavyweight defense June 1 against California's Andy Ruiz at Madison Square Garden.
