Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group have closed an agreement to form a sports joint venture in the UK and Ireland.
The announcement was made in London on Thursday morning.
The partners say the joint venture “assembling one of the richest lineups of live sports coverage for fans in the UK and Ireland, including the Olympic Games, the English Premier League (soccer) ), UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, UFC, Boxing, WWE, Tennis Grand Slams, Cycling Grand Tour and Winter Sports World Cup season. ”
Both BT Sport and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands before being regrouped under a single brand in the future, the joint venture partners also said.
“As work begins on developing a new sports offering for the UK and Ireland, BT Sport and Eurosport UK will keep their separate product offerings in place for a period of time,” they reiterated on Thursday. . “BT Sport and Eurosport UK customers can continue to enjoy existing sports offerings in all the ways they currently do. Over time, the intention was to launch a new sports brand in the market and introduce this combined sports product and entertainment offering from Warner Bros. Discovery. ”
The joint venture’s board of directors is equally represented between the appointees of BT and Warner Bros. Discovery. The first chairman, nominated by each shareholder on a rotating basis, was Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer division. Andrew Georgiou, president and chief executive officer, Discovery Sports Europe of Warner Bros., is also a board member and will lead the business.
Georgiou said: “Today marks the beginning of our journey to building a new sports destination for fans in the UK and Ireland. “Combining BT Sport and Eurosport UK with Warner Bros.’s growing and world-class entertainment service. Discovery will create an exciting new proposition for consumers.”
Cholera added: “As we enter our ninth season, today is one of the exciting new chapters of BT Sport. I’m incredibly proud of the longstanding teams and brands and broadcasters that BT Sport has become, and I look forward to partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery to create an exciting new sports TV show. ”
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looked at whether the joint venture “could be expected to significantly reduce competition in any market or markets in the UK for goods”. goods or services,” but recently announced its decision to allow the transaction.
