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Co-creating new value for media content through creative development centered on emotions aroused by sports

Tokyo—May 23, 2025—Hakuhodo Inc., a leading integrated marketing and innovation company headquartered in Tokyo, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with DAZN Japan Investment G.K., owner of the sports channel DAZN (pronounced “da zone”), on business development centered on emotions.

In Japan, the number of sports fans and related consumption including through fan support activities have been on the rise, resulting in expansion of markets related to sports. A joint survey conducted by DAZN and Hakuhodo in April 2025 found that about 90% of sei-katsu-sha* drew inspiration in life by watching sports content, indicating that sports have a positive impact on the happiness and wellbeing of most sei-katsu-sha.

On the back of the latest advances in technology including AI, attention has also turned to the digital-driven transformation of the sports industry and sports content, including the diversification of ways to view sports, new sports-watching experiences and the expansion of fan engagement.

Focusing on this value of sports as media content, Hakuhodo will work to co-create new fan experiences and business opportunities with DAZN, a world-leading sports streaming service. Hakuhodo, with its strengths in creativity centered on sei-katsu-sha insights, and DAZN, with its ample knowledge and assets in sports content including livecasts of over 7,700 matches per year, will join forces to develop advertising products and new services on the DAZN platform, centered on emotions including sports-inspired excitement and the thrill of fandoms**. The two companies are also launching a creative team called DAZN Creative for Brand to maximize advertising performance by developing creative expression tailored to the challenges and needs of the advertiser.

Concrete actions include the development of AI-powered new sports-watching experiences through the scoring of emotions among users and fandoms during livecasts, ad delivery linked to the emotions of viewers, and the development of hybrid real/virtual viewing experiences. Our future plans include initiatives for further stimulating the Japanese sporting world, possibly in collaboration with a wide range of industries and companies.

We are committed to promoting the joint development of advertising products and verifying the effectiveness of new advertising businesses and services. The collective power of Hakuhodo’s network will provide solutions to increase advertisers’ brand value.

Reference
■ Logo of the creative team DAZN Creative for Brand

 

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