This article is superseded by more recent events. It has been kept online as a document recording the twists and turns of the battle to buy BT Sport
DAZN is on the verge of acquiring BT Sport after months of negotiations. In order for the deal to complete, BT has now asked the Premier League to approve the move.
The Premier League is involved as BT Sport holds the rights to 52 live Premier League games per season until summer 2025. News of talks between BT and the Premier League was first reported by The Times. UEFA will also need to green light the change of ownership, due to BT Sport’s Champions and Europa League rights.
BT first put the channels up for sale last year. During the year, DAZN, Disney and Discovery have at various points been associated with a purchase or joint venture.
The news that rights holders are now in active talks means a deal between DAZN and BT is now closer than ever.
Sky and Virgin Media also need to have their say on the change of ownership, under BT’s current carriage deal with both platforms. Sky’s relationship with BT has an added level of complexity beyond carriage. Sky currently sells BT Sport subscriptions via satellite on behalf of BT. This is part of reciprocal deal that saw BT market Sky’s NOW service on BT TV.
DAZN operates internationally as sports streaming service. However, in some countries it now also runs live/linear TV channels. In the UK, its online service launched in 2020 with live boxing. But it has not always been plain sailing for the company. In Italy, issues with its streaming of Serie A football matches resulted in the local regulator considering minimum quality standards for live streaming.