Last night in MSBA we had the privilege to listen to speakers from DAZN, one of the largest sports media platforms in the world. While each speaker on the panel detailed what they did in the sphere of DAZN, what was most intriguing to myself was how they all came into their positions. The speakers, especially Ben Cohon, were open and candid about their experiences and the plethora of jobs they had worked before DAZN, ranging from corporate environments to even athletic directors at high schools.

DAZN is known for its social media streaming platforms and how it caters to large audiences globally, but what the panel discussed showed the different barriers they faced coming into the US market. Different from other countries, the US market is already saturated in terms of streaming rights as regional sports networks and national media companies have contracts with individual leads. The DAZN team discussed how they are trying to break into this landscape by building themselves into it using social media platforms that other companies have fallen behind in, such as Instagram TV and Twitter highlights. Seeing the passion that each member had for DAZN and the tremendous growth the company has had in the US(scaling from nothing to 250 full-time employees in less than a year) made me realize all the different paths I can take to find something in sports I love. 

These past couple weeks at my internship have been hectic to say the least. At Oakley, we have been working on an accelerated timeline to unveil a partnership with a major sports league and this has sent the entire time into overdrive. Seeing the team work together has been an awesome learning experience because it also allows me to see the work that I do pushed above and shown to higher up people and used in a positive way.