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DAZN’s multi-faceted business model has led to a digital-only arrangement with the Magic, who will pair their linear over-the-air local broadcast package with DAZN’s burgeoning direct-to-consumer app. The deal announced Thursday widens the platform’s presence in the NBA, raising DAZN’s official number of teams to eight -- exclusive packages with the T’Wolves, Cavaliers, Pacers and Spurs, digital-only deals with the Knicks, Nets and Magic, and a non-exclusive streaming deal with the Wizards. The Grizzlies will sign DAZN’s next exclusive contract, while the Hornets are expected to join the Magic as a digital-only franchise in the coming days. After that, the company could land as many as four more non-exclusive teams, due to its acquisition of ViewLift earlier this year. ViewLift already had deals with the Nuggets, Bulls, Suns and Rockets, and if those teams follow the Magic’s lead, DAZN could end up with almost half the NBA heading into the 2026-27 season. “I don’t think I can speak to specifics, but I think you could look around the space and see ... who’s within the ViewLift family, who’s still out there without a solution and do the math,” said DAZN SVP/Strategy & Business Development Zander Berlinski. “I think we think there is more room to grow here, I guess is what I’d say.” In the recent days and weeks, the platform has made its NBA business work through three avenues. For its four exclusive deals, DAZN is paying a higher rights fee, anywhere from $8M to $20M annually, according to industry sources. With its DTC-only deals, such as with the Magic, sources believe the rights fee is in the $1M-$2M range. The non-exclusive deal with the Wizards is likely less. “We’ve shown now obviously three different models of ways of working with teams,” Berlinski said, “and I think we’re open to exploring any and all of those. … But then we recognize certain teams have different objectives. Not every team, it’s not a one size fits all. And we want to work with as many teams as possible in the ways that are both positive for us, but positive for teams and what their objectives are as well." The Magic template will be a team-branded standalone subscription, to launch later in September, that will give fans two options for the season. They can watch games for free on Orlando’s WRDQ TV 27 and WFTV Channel 9 or stream them on DAZN’s standalone app with a monthly pass of $19.99 or a season pass of $119.99. Season-ticket holders can gain access with a 20% discount, while additional discounts and promotions will be available during the season. The Magic DTC app will also be an add-on for existing DAZN customers and will feature live games, alternative feeds, and original content -- again showing the versatility of the platform. There will certainly be an escape clause, when the league is expected to launch its centralized hub for local broadcasts in 2027-28. But Berlinski reiterated that DAZN sees this as a longer-term deal, with the intention to show the NBA it is a capable frontrunner (alongside YouTube, Amazon and ESPN) to acquire the future NBA hub itself. “I do think we feel from a scale perspective, the more teams we can get in our ecosystem and prove our might from a digital perspective, the better,” Berlinski said. “And it helps align us for potential broader conversations, whether that be with the NBA on a league level and its aggregated solution or with other leagues from a national point of view.”