DAZN secures exclusive Memphis Grizzlies regional rights in multi-year deal

This deal represents a significant shift in the regional sports network (RSN) landscape, moving a mid-market NBA franchise toward a digital-first, direct-to-consumer model. By securing exclusive rights across a seven-state territory, DAZN is testing whether a hybrid approach—combining premium subscriptions with free over-the-air games—can solve the reach issues currently plaguing traditional cable-bound RSNs. The inclusion of multi-view and 1080i production suggests that streaming platforms are now competing on technical quality rather than just accessibility. Watch for whether other NBA teams follow this blueprint as legacy RSN contracts expire across the league.

DAZN has been aggressively building its sports rights portfolio across multiple leagues and geographies, positioning itself as a digital-first alternative to traditional regional sports networks. In August 2026, DAZN secured exclusive global rights to the FIFA Club World Cup, reaching over 2 billion viewers across its platform, a deal that demonstrated the platform's capacity to handle massive live-event audiences at scale. The company has also expanded its combat sports and football offerings, with DAZN signing a multi-year deal with the Premier League for select international markets beginning in the 2025-26 season, further diversifying its content library beyond any single league or region.

The broader RSN collapse has created a vacuum that DAZN and other digital platforms are racing to fill. After Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy reorganization left multiple NBA, MLB, and NHL teams without stable regional broadcast partners, the NBA announced in July 2026 that it would allow individual teams to negotiate regional media rights independently for the first time in league history, effectively opening the door for streaming platforms to compete with legacy cable operators. This structural shift mirrors what occurred in the United Kingdom, where DAZN already operates as a primary sports broadcaster. The Memphis Grizzlies deal is among the first tests of whether this model works in a mid-market U.S. city without an established DAZN subscriber base.

On the technical side, DAZN has invested heavily in production quality to compete with traditional broadcast standards. The platform deployed 1080p HDR production for its UEFA Champions League coverage starting in the 2025-26 season, representing a step beyond the 1080i standard included in the Grizzlies agreement. DAZN has also experimented with multi-camera and multi-view features during boxing events, where the platform reported a 34% increase in average session duration when viewers could switch between camera angles, suggesting that interactive viewing features drive measurable engagement gains that could justify premium pricing in the RSN replacement model.