DAZN appointments lead to shake-up atop Foxtel Group in Australia

DAZN has appointed Patrick Delany, CEO at its Australian subsidiary Foxtel Group, as chief operating officer, with Amaysim founder Peter O’Connell replacing him in Sydney.

Patrick Delany

Delany is moving to London to take up the role, which tasks him with boosting subscriber and revenue growth and tightening integration across DAZN’s various divisions.

As CEO of Foxtel Group since 2018, and previously CEO of Fox Sports Australia, he led the transformation of one of Australia’s largest media businesses, including the launch of Kayo Sports and Binge.

Most recently, following its acquisition by DAZN, Delany oversaw the integration of Foxtel into DAZN, creating DAZN Australia. He will remain Foxtel Group chairman.

O’Connell, who has been on the DAZN board since last year, is a former corporate lawyer who co-founded his own telco, Amaysim, which was later bought by Optus in 2021.

He has also served in senior executive positions and board roles at Film Australia, Superloop, Climatech Zero and was an early investor in decarbonisation solutions provider, CoolPlanet.

Mark Frain, current CEO of DAZN Media+, has been promoted to the newly created role of CEO of streaming and advertising. Frain will take overall responsibility for driving the advertising side of the business as well as the Kayo Sports and Binge subscription business.

DAZN has confirmed that Alice Mascia, CEO in the DACH region for the past four years, has decided to leave the company at the end of the year.

Felix Krause, who left DAZN at the beginning of 2025 to join ProSiebenSat.1 Media, returns to DAZN with immediate effect as deputy CEO, DACH, and will become CEO, DACH, on January 1, 2027.

Meanwhile, Alex Gersh is joining DAZN as chief financial officer, with current DAZN CFO Darren Waterman appointed to the new role of chief business officer to lead on global partnerships, distribution and corporate transactions. Gersh joins DAZN from sports tech firm Sportradar, where he was CFO.

Delany, Gersh and Waterman will report to DAZN CEO Shay Segev.

The appointments come after DAZN had a busy 2025, acquiring Foxtel Group, delivering the FIFA Club World Cup and reaching profitability for the first time.

In 2026, DAZN has announced acquisitions of ViewLift and EverPass and added FIFA+ to its platform, while it is also building out a regional sports business in the US.

Segev said: “DAZN is entering an exciting new chapter of profitable growth, during which we will build on the strong momentum we have created in the business.

“Our built-for-sport platform is now available in more than 200 markets, connecting millions of fans across the world to the sports they love through immersive experiences that go far beyond broadcast. The stage is set for our strengthened leadership team to intensify our mission to build the world’s best sports entertainment platform for fans, rights holders and partners.”