DAZN, the international sports streaming platform, has announced three appointments to strengthen its executive leadership team and “drive the group’s next phase of profitable growth.”
Patrick Delany has been named chief operating officer (COO), while Alex Gersh joins as chief financial officer (CFO). Darren Waterman has been appointed chief business officer (CBO).
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The trio will report to DAZN chief executive Shay Segev.
The appointments come in a crucial year for DAZN, which reached profitability for the first time.
In 2025, the OTT platform acquired media heavyweight Foxtel Group in Australia and provided global coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup.
This year, DAZN has continued to scale, announcing acquisitions of ViewLift and EverPass to extend its platform capabilities and rights relationships, renewing premium rights in key markets, adding FIFA+ to the DAZN platform, and most recently, building out a regional sports business in the US, partnering with several NBA franchises.
As COO, Delany will be based in London and have end-to-end responsibility for the day-to-day trading performance of DAZN, driving subscriber and revenue growth across the company.
He will oversee the running of DAZN’s operational businesses, pricing and packaging, rights renewals and rights-holder relationships, content production and execution, and advertising and sponsorship.
Delany has more than three decades of experience across sports, media, and digital subscription businesses. 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 launching and growing the Kayo Sports streaming service.
Most recently, following its acquisition by DAZN, Delany led the integration of Foxtel into DAZN, creating DAZN Australia.
Delany will take over from previous COO Ed McCarthy, who has been named as chief corporate affairs officer. McCarthy’s responsibilities remain unchanged and will continue to report directly to Segev.
Gersh, who has more than 25 years of international financial leadership across sectors including sports, betting, technology, and telecoms at both private and publicly listed companies, will succeed Waterman as CFO.
He previously served as CFO at Sportradar, where he led the company through its Nasdaq listing. Before that, he was CFO of betting company Betfair and later Paddy Power Betfair following their merger.
Waterman is transitioning to the new role of CBO, where he will lead strategic commercial, partnership, and transformational opportunities for the group.
As DAZN’s CFO since 2022, Waterman has led the streamer’s Finance function and the group’s commercial and corporate development through a period of growth, with the company reaching profitability in 2025.
In addition, DAZN has also confirmed that Alice Mascia has decided to leave the company at the end of the year after four years as CEO in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).
Felix Krause returns to DAZN with immediate effect as deputy CEO and will become the permanent CEO in the DACH region on 1 January 2027.
On the appointments, 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.”
