Discovery closes in on BT Sport after DAZN pulls out of deal

Discovery is in talks with BT Sport to set up a new joint sports venture in the UK and Ireland. The idea is for the project to be confirmed in the coming weeks and start working later this year, and it lacks “final agreement and regulatory approval.”

Talks between Discovery, owner of Eurosport Channel, and BT Sport have taken place in recent weeks after DAZN pulled out of the deal due to commercial issues, including a snag over Sky, which has sublicensing agreements with BT Sport.

The relationship between DAZN and Sky isn’t the best. In March 2021, Sky lost the competition for the rights to the Italian championship to DAZN, which offered US$2.96 billion (R$16.34 billion) to broadcast the tournament. Subsequently, DAZN rejected Sky’s proposal to share these rights for US$1.8 billion (R$9.94 billion).

Negotiations with DAZN began in September last yearHowever, there was a fear on the part of BT Sport that the streaming platform did not have the resources to finalize the purchase. though, In January of this year, DAZN made a concrete offer of 800 million US dollars (4.4 billion R$ at the time)but ended up not moving forward.

“Over the past year, we at DAZN have achieved some significant momentum in our business, including recent gains of rights to premium domestic football with LaLiga in Spain, Serie A in Italy, and Bundesliga in Germany. We remain fully committed to expanding our business and investing in the Kingdom However, the BT Sport deal has become uneconomic for DAZN. We respect that BT has chosen a different strategic path and wish BT, BT Sport and Discovery all the best in the future.”

It is worth noting that the competitors in the “struggle” for the joint venture with BT Sport, Discovery and DAZN are also partners. In September 2020, the two companies extended the partnership for another three years for Eurosport channels 1 and 2, which were already available to DAZN subscribers in Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain, with Switzerland added to the deal.

If successful, BT Sport’s merger with Eurosport in the UK and Ireland would bring together a wide range of broadcasting rights, including the Olympic Games, Champions League, European League, Premier League, Grand Cycling, Grand Tours tennis and Grand Slam rugby, among others.

“We are excited about this opportunity with the BT Group to bring consumers stronger and more streamlined mixed sports offerings across the UK and Ireland, and more broadly to enhance our strategy to bring sports and entertainment to more consumers on the platform of their choice.” said Jean Briac Perret, President and CEO, Discovery Streaming and International.

“Through a shared ambition for growth, as well as combining our world-class sports assets with Discovery’s premium sports and entertainment content, our customers will benefit from more content in more places,” added Chief Executive Officer Marc Alera. BT Sport.