A top executive for DAZN has made it clear his company sees “growth opportunity” in acquiring the services of an attractive boxing property.

Joe Markowski expressed keen interest in linking up with Premier Boxing Champions, the outfit founded by longtime boxing power broker Al Haymon that is in need of a new broadcasting home at the end of the year when Showtime Sports shuts down.

Last month, Paramount Global, the parent company of Showtime, announced that it would be closing its entire sports department, ending the cable channel’s nearly four decades in boxing. (BoxingScene.com is also owned by Paramount Global).

The news has sparked rumors of where PBC might head to, with some reports suggesting Amazon, Netflix, and even DAZN have been in talks with the company. PBC backs some of the biggest names in boxing, including Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, Errol Spence Jr., and Deontay Wilder.

Markowski tacitly acknowledged those rumors recently by stating that bringing PBC into their fold would be a boon for their business. DAZN has output deals with Matchroom, Golden Boy Promotions, Misfits Boxing, and Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

“DAZN’s boxing business will be very, very profitable and successful in 2024,” Markowski said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s got expansion opportunities. I think it’s going to be interesting to see where the PBC go. I dunno where it’s going to go. I think the PBC guys are considering their options. That will be an obvious growth opportunity for DAZN boxing. That’s going to be a big one.”

On the topic of Showtime’s exit from boxing, Markowski seemed to suggest that the cable company may not have invested enough resources into expanding their digital operations (read streaming). Unlike Showtime, DAZN, an “over-the-top” app, is distributed solely through the internet.

“We’ve invested in and focused solely on digital distribution,” Markowski said. “That is because that’s where consumption is going. I don’t think the reason Showtime left the market is only because of that, but also because their linear-digital mix was wrong. It comes down to the fact that boxing, the economics of it are hard to get, right? Our entry [in 2018] disrupted the market. And the market has massively adjusted since then, multiple times. Did Showtime get that right recently? I don’t know. Boxing is probably an unpredictable pain point for [them].”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.