DAZN hires Jamie Horowitz as executive vice president of content, North America

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DAZN hires Jamie Horowitz as executive vice president of content, North America image

DAZN Group executive chairman John Skipper is planning an ambitious $12 million investment in original content and programming, according to SN sources. He’s turning to one of his closest confidantes to make it a reality: Jamie Horowitz.

On Friday, Skipper announced internally he’d hired Horowitz for the new post of executive vice president of content, North America. In his new role, Horowitz will oversee all content, including live production, original programming, social content, editorial and scheduling.

Horowitz’s new post as DAZN’s North American content czar is similar to the position held by his close friend Connor Schell at ESPN. Schell has overseen all aspects of ESPN content across television, digital and print platforms for the past two years. Horowitz will report directly to Skipper, working closely with fellow DAZN executive vice presidents Marc Fein and Joe Markowski.

In an internal memo, Skipper noted Horowitz has been consulting with DAZN for the past nine months. He credited the former Fox Sports and ESPN executive with playing a pivotal role in several big deals.

Horowitz partnered with LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s “Uninterrupted” to launch a new docu-series called “40 Days,” chronicling the buildup to the Canelo Alvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs middleweight unification bout. (The fight will be shown exclusively on DAZN on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET). 

With James himself touting the DAZN partnership to his 114 million social media followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, DAZN’s brand awareness has reached record levels, according to sources.

After Skipper successfully negotiated with Major League Baseball for the rights to a daily weeknight show, Horowitz helped land ex-ESPN anchor Adnan Virk, Scott Rogowsky, Lauren Gardner and Tony Luftman for DAZN’s new “ChangeUp” whip-around baseball show.

Just as important, Horowitz recruited up-and-comer Logan Swaim to executive produce “ChangeUp.” Swaim helped turn NFL Network “Good Morning Football” into one of the hottest shows on sports TV. DAZN is hoping Swaim can do the same thing with “ChangeUp.”

Horowitz’s mission will be simple, according to Skipper’s memo: “The focus will be using content to acquire and retain subscribers.”

Skipper and Horowitz previously had a long and successful association at ESPN. Under Skipper’s watch as president, Horowitz became ESPN’s star programmer, creating a string of hit studio shows, including: “First Take” with Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith; ”SportsNation” with Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle; and “Numbers Never Lie” (which eventually became “His & Hers," with Jemele Hill and Michael Smith).

As Fox’s president of national networks overseeing FS1 and FS2, the hard-charging Horowitz challenged the bigger ESPN. He recruited former ESPN on-air talents like Bayless, Cowherd, Jason Whitlock and Doug Gottlieb to join him in Los Angeles.

Horowitz launched “The Herd” with Cowherd in 2015, followed by “Undisputed” with Bayless and Shannon Sharpe and “Speak for Yourself” with Whitlock and Cowherd in 2016. Horowitz didn’t oversee live sporting events at Fox, but he will in his new post at DAZN. 

So what can we expect from Skipper and Horowitz at DAZN? Look for Horowitz to collaborate with James and Carter on a new “40 Days” series around Canelo and heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Don’t be surprised if Skipper and Horowitz take the fight to ESPN by commissioning a documentary series similar to ESPN Films’ Oscar-winning “30 for 30” franchise, sources said.

DAZN is part of DAZN Group, parent company of Sporting News.

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