In Tokyo and want to watch this weekend's Mayweather-McGregor superfight? You won't need a satellite dish or a sports bar — just an app.
Japan's boxing fans can view the $500-million bout, the richest global sporting event this year, with their smartphone and a $15 subscription to DAZN, a U.K.-owned sports streaming service that's seeking to turn sports nuts into cord cutters.
The shift to OTT — over-the-top, or non-traditional — web-based broadcasting is shaking up the landscape in a country where network TV still dominates. In the past year, apps backed by billionaires Masayoshi Son and Len Blavatnik have begun offering live and on-demand streaming, ramping up spending on rights in a fight for customers that offers a glimpse into the future of global sports broadcasting.