BT in Exclusive Talks to Create Sport TV Venture With Discovery
(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc is in exclusive talks to create a 50-50 sports joint venture with U.S. entertainment group Discovery Inc., dealing a major blow to rival suitor DAZN.
The phone and broadband carrier had been publicly exploring options for its pay-TV unit BT Sport for 10 months alongside in an effort to focus on its traditional role of telecommunications infrastructure.
The new venture would mean BT Sport customers get access to Discovery's sport and entertainment content, including its discovery+ app, while Discovery would get access to BT Sport's customer base and package of rights which includes English Premier League soccer.
BT is aiming for the new venture to be up and running by the end of the year subject to competition approvals, it said Thursday alongside third quarter results. No financial terms were disclosed.
DAZN had been reported as one of the bidders for BT Sport. The Len Blavatnik-backed platform. whose name is pronounced “da zone,” is aiming to be a global sports streaming service. It spent quickly to acquire rights to broadcast sports including soccer, boxing and Formula 1 motor racing across Europe, Asia and the Americas. In 2019 it made a substantial operating loss and its latest accounts are overdue according to the U.K. companies registry.
“We remain fully committed to growing our business and investing in the U.K., as you will see in the near future” said DAZN chairman Kevin Mayer in an emailed statement. “On this occasion however, the deal for BT Sport became uneconomical for DAZN. However, we respect that BT chose a different strategic path, and wish BT, BT Sport, and Discovery all the best for the future.”
London-based BT introduced its sports broadcasting service in 2013 and owns rights to European Champions League and some English Premier League soccer. The deal involves approvals from Europe's biggest pay-TV platform, Comcast Corp.'s Sky, because it shares a cross-licensing arrangement with BT.
Lazard Ltd. advised BT on the process.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
