BT and Warner Bros. Discovery agree to form new premium sports joint venture for UK and Ireland
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ByEurosport
Updated 12/05/2022 at 10:04 GMT
BT Group plc has agreed a set of definitive agreements with Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. to form a 50:50 joint venture company in the UK & Ireland, bringing together an extensive portfolio of premium sports rights including major football competitions including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the Premier League; Premiership Rugby; UFC; and Eurosport’s existing offering.
Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport
Image credit: Eurosport
Warner Bros. Discovery and BT have agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture company to create a new premium sports offering for the UK & Ireland.
The new joint venture will bring audiences a compelling collection of rights including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the English 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.
Both BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands and product propositions in the market before being brought together under a single brand in the future.
Marc Allera, CEO BT’s Consumer division, said “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.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the established, creative and innovative broadcaster that BT Sport has become. We have a brilliant team who are dedicated to broadcasting amazing sporting moments and we look forward to working with Eurosport UK to realise the opportunities that this next stage will bring both our team and our viewers.”
Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “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."
What does this mean for customers?
Those customers who access BT Sport through BT directly, and the majority of BT TV customers, are set to receive discovery+, the non-fiction entertainment streaming service which is home to Eurosport’s live and on-demand streaming offer in the UK & Ireland, as part of existing subscriptions.
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