Talks begin on merger of BT Sport and Eurosport in UK and Ireland

BT has opted to stay in sports television rather than going for an outright sale to streaming service DAZN, which had also made an offer.

BT and Discovery are in talks to merge their television sports channels BT Sport and Eurosport in the UK and Ireland.

BT said it was in exclusive discussions with Discovery over a joint venture. 

Announcing the deal, as it said Covid and supply chain issues would hit revenue this year, BT opted to stay in sports television rather than going for an outright sale to streaming service DAZN, which had also made an offer.

The new business would be a 50:50 joint venture, BT said, and would remain committed to retaining BT Sport's existing major sport broadcast rights, such as Premier League soccer.

Discovery was vying with streaming service DAZN, which wanted to buy BT Sport outright.

The joint-venture will bring together the Olympic Games, Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, cycling Grand Tours, tennis Grand Slams, the winter sport World Cup season and English Premiership Rugby, the companies said.

BT made the announcement as it reported a trading update for the nine months to the end of December, with revenue falling 2% to £15.68bn (€19bn), with declines in global and enterprise partly offset by growth in the Openreach network.

It said as a result of Covid-19 and supply chain issues it now expected adjusted revenue for the year to be down around 2%.

- Reuters