BT, Warner Bros. Discovery Set Sports JV

BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery have confirmed plans for a 50-50 joint venture that will deliver a premium sports offering in the U.K. and Ireland.

The two companies entered into exclusive negotiations for a sports venture in February. The deal combines the operations of BT Sport and Eurosport UK, delivering a slate of events that includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the Premier League, Premiership Rugby, UFC, the Olympic Games, tennis Grand Slams featuring the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, cycling Grand Tours including the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, and the winter sports World Cup season.

As part of the alignment, customers who access BT Sport through BT directly, and the majority of BT TV customers, will receive access to discovery+ as part of their existing subscriptions. BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands, but will be united under a single name in the future.

BT plc will receive £93 million ($113.5 million) from Warner Bros. Discovery and up to approximately £540 million ($659 million) by way of an earn-out from the joint venture, subject to certain conditions being met. Warner Bros. Discovery will be granted a call option over BT’s 50 percent stake, exercisable at specified points in the first four years of the deal. If the call option is not exercised, BT can exit its stake through a sale or IPO. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer division, noted, “As a global sports and entertainment broadcaster, Warner Bros. Discovery is the perfect partner to work with us to take BT Sport to the next stage of its growth. We’re excited to be joining forces to bring the best of BT Sport together with Eurosport UK to create a fantastic new sports offer alongside all the entertainment that discovery+ has to offer BT customers.”

Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, added, “We are excited to bring fans a new premium sport offering that brings together everything they love from BT Sport and Eurosport UK. Combining this with our growing portfolio of premium entertainment content promises to deliver consumers a richer and deeper content proposition, not only providing greater value from their subscriptions but bringing sport to a wider entertainment audience.”