The unravelling of the Australian streaming service that shocked the football world

Dylan Azzopardi had big plans for Sports Flick, an idea he dreamed up one day when he was working for his father’s construction business.

Convinced he’d spotted a “gap in the marketplace”, Azzopardi, a father of two in his mid 20s, worked with his brother Justin from his home in western Sydney to turn his thought bubble into a sports streaming service that would soon shock the industry in Australia – and, indeed, the world.

For a few fleeting weeks earlier this year, it felt like Sports Flick was the real deal. Azzopardi’s initial strategy was to hoover up rights for fringe sports that no other Australian broadcaster wanted, like Indian baseball, Nicaraguan football and bare-knuckle boxing – but then, motivated by decreasing coverage of football by the mainstream media, he pivoted the company’s focus towards becoming the go-to digital home for the beautiful game.

When The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed in February that the little-known start-up had offered $US60 million over three years for the rights to the UEFA Champions League – stunning incumbent rights holders Optus Sport, and several other bidders – Azzopardi and Sports Flick had suddenly become serious players.

Then things began to unravel. Fast.

Nine months on, Azzopardi finds himself in a precarious situation. He is no longer the shareholder of the company he founded and, to make matters worse, he is subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by NSW Police (the police confirmed this investigation was still underway). Former investor Dominic Galati, who put his money behind Sports Flick after reading about their UEFA Champions League coup in the Herald, has accused Azzopardi of using $2.5 million in funds for his personal use.

But Azzopardi is trying to fight back. Two months ago, he filed documents with the NSW Supreme Court, demanding he be reinstated as a director of his company on grounds that one of his former investors and a ‘contract negotiator’ allegedly impersonated police officers as they took control of his business, DCA Enterprises.

In an affidavit filed with the NSW Supreme Court, Azzopardi alleges he thought he was being introduced to another investor when he met a man at an apartment in Kent Street, Sydney, who said he was a police officer and demanded he confess to embezzling funds. He is hoping to receive $12.7 million from his former investors if his case succeeds.

Azzopardi, through his lawyer, declined to comment for this story. When Galati was contacted by this masthead about the affidavit and its allegations, he declined to comment other than to say he refuted the allegations.

A legal letter sent on behalf of Mariani and Galati to this masthead on September 3 denied any allegations of wrongdoing made by Azzopardi.

Few had heard of Sports Flick before this year, or were familiar with its catalogue of bizarre niche offerings. For Australian fans of European handball, for instance, it must have been a godsend. Sports Flick charged $14.99 a month or $99.99 for a year’s subscription, but also had a pay-per-view section which included Serbian rugby league, competitive bodybuilding, and last year’s cricket Test series between Bangladesh and the West Indies. It reportedly had upwards of 30,000 global subscribers.

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“I was working for my dad’s building company and was so bored on the job so one day I decided to start my own digital broadcasting company into Australia,” Azzopardi told The Sporting News in late 2020. “Once I got all of that sorted I started contacting people; I just called up the UAE League and asked if they wanted to partner with an Australian digital broadcaster. That was the door that opened, and then it took off.”

Armed with the assistance of some well-connected broadcasting consultants, Sports Flick’s bid for the UEFA Champions League came out of nowhere. For weeks, both the football and broadcast industries were abuzz with rumours someone other than Optus had won a blind auction for the rights, but nobody – including high-ranking executives at Football Australia – could figure out who had won it.

Sports Flick never publicly confirmed it had won the bid, and of course, it never sealed the deal – in April, the company confirmed it was backing out of negotiations, citing the uncertainty in European football caused by the short-lived Super League saga, when 12 of the world’s biggest clubs announced plans for a breakaway competition that would rival the UEFA Champions League.

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The real reason, however, was due to Sports Flick’s failure to secure bank guarantees for the $US60 million it had agreed to pay, and the rights ended up with Stan Sport (owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead).

But its sudden rise to prominence had already caught the attention of two football fanatics: Galati, a former director of Soccer Australia and ex-head of SBS Sport, and Berti Mariani, who coached in the defunct National Soccer League. Months earlier, they had tabled an unsolicited $50 million offer to Football Australia’s board for broadcast and media rights that included a dramatic restructure of the A-League. FA board sources suggested the proposal was “kite-flying” and was quickly dismissed, but Galati and Mariani’s determination to enter the sports streaming industry remained, and they saw Sports Flick as the ideal vehicle.

Azzopardi says in his affidavit that he first met Galati and Mariani in April this year to discuss their investment in Sports Flick. At the time, Azzopardi said they discussed the prospect of securing rights for the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A, and the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

Azzopardi alleges in the affidavit that the group agreed to the sale of 50 per cent of the company to Galati and Mariani in exchange for $9 million in funds to bid for the rights. Mariani would become a director in the company and Galati would become a “shadow director”, the affidavit says.

But Azzopardi alleges the day before $9 million was due to be paid, Galati asked to delay the transfer of the total amount until June 30, and instead transferred $1 million. After securing the Rugby League World Cup rights for $5 million in a deal that also included a revenue-sharing component, and beginning talks for the Serie A rights, Azzopardi alleges that Mariani and Galati agreed to invest a total of $15 million into the company. Azzopardi claims in the affidavit he did not receive the total amount despite repeated assurances.

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Documents filed with ASIC confirm Azzopardi was removed as a director of his company on July 3 and that Mariani became the sole director and secretary. Azzopardi alleges that he was called by someone claiming to be Mariani on that same day who wanted to meet at Kent St and introduce a new investor.

When he arrived, Azzopardi says in the affidavit he was greeted by Galati, Mariani and another man who identified himself as Ray.

“Say the truth on where the two million dollars went otherwise you won’t be leaving this apartment today,” Ray said, according to Azzopardi’s affidavit. “You had better call your wife to let her know you won’t be home tonight to see her or your two children. Give me your driver’s licence.

“I am a police officer working with internal affairs, here is my badge.” Azzopardi says he believed it was a NSW police badge.

He claims Galati then produced a police badge from Queensland, saying: “I am a former Queensland police officer now working for internal affairs. You better tell me the truth otherwise you will be going to prison for a very long time. The people in the kitchen are here to arrest you, if needed. You have embezzled the funds and the Rugby League World Cup has received zero dollars.

“I have had someone from Commsec investigate the company’s account. That is how I know about the funds.”

Azzopardi alleges he felt intimidated, frightened and under extreme duress to do whatever Galati and Ray were demanding. The Herald is not suggesting that Azzopardi’s allegations are true, only that they have been alleged by Azzopardi in a court document he has filed.

Galati and Mariani have a different version of events, claiming the money he gave to Azzopardi to bid for the Rugby League World Cup rights was never received by the media handlers. The pair alleged to this masthead and the NSW Police in September that he used $2.5 million provided to him for personal use rather than to pay the company handling the international rights for the Rugby League World Cup, and alleged that Azzopardi had confessed to doing so.

A spokesperson for the Rugby League World Cup – which was later postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic – confirmed they were aware of reports regarding Sports Flick but declined to comment due to an “ongoing legal matter” between the company and authorities in Australia.

Azzopardi, through his lawyer Omar Juweinat, has previously denied any wrongdoing. No charges have been laid in relation to Azzopardi’s criminal investigation. Azzopardi is due in court against Galati and other defendants on December 16.

Sports Flick has gone dark on its social media accounts since July, when it finished broadcasting the CONCACAF Gold Cup, blocking new subscribers from signing up and failing to run any fresh content.

And Azzopardi, who previously had a social media presence, can no longer be found online.