The move would thwart DAZN’s long-running attempts to buy the sports channels, ending its chances of acquiring UK Premier League TV rights.
According to reports over the weekend, Discovery has offered to create a joint venture with BT. Discovery already runs Eurosport in the UK and offers live sport through its Discovery+ streaming service. It is not known if Discovery plans to move the UK sports operations into the joint venture, or if Discovery would keep the two entities separate.
BT is looking into the Discovery joint venture, after talks with DAZN stalled. BT is seeking assurances that DAZN would continue to be available to all BT customers after a potential sale. DAZN, on the other hand, is seeking assurances over revenues if it bought the channels.
A final decision on how to proceed with BT Sport is due by the end of the year, according to reports.
The case for DAZN
Following the Premier League’s decision to roll-over existing UK television rights for another three seasons, acquiring BT Sport is the only way DAZN can get its hands on the Premier League for the time being. These rights are key for DAZN fully breaking in to the UK market. Currently, DAZN only offers a limited sports streaming service for UK subscribers. This is in contrast with the likes of Italy and Germany, where DAZN is a major competitor, scooping up lucrative sports rights.
The case for Discovery
Discovery, meanwhile is also seeking to become even bigger. It’s currently in a merger with Warner Media. This will result in the combined company becoming a major threat to Sky in the areas of entertainment, children’s and factual programming. However, a combination with BT Sport would enable Discovery to also compete with Sky’s traditional sporting strongholds.
BT is eager to offload BT Sport – either completely or through a joint venture – to help it streamline its business. BT Sport was originally used as a tool to keep broadband subscribers from drifting off to Sky. Now, however BT wants to focus on fibre rollout across the UK.