Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and BT have agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture to deliver enhanced premium sports content across the U.K. and Ireland. The JV will merge the BT Sport and Eurosport U.K. program offerings, with WBD spearheading the operation.
Discovery initially posited the idea for a sports JV in February, as the company had acquired Eurosport back in 2014. The deal stipulates BT will receive about $113 million (£93 million) from WBD and up to about $659 million (£540 million) by way of an earn-out if certain conditions are met.
The combined BT Sport and Eurosport offering will feature extensive coverage of events like the Olympic Games, Tour de France, the upcoming World Cup season and more. Content may likely make use of 8K streaming technology, which BT Sport tested in March with the help of video software provider Synamedia.
Both BT Sport and Eurosport U.K. will retain their separate brands before being brought together under a single brand – the name of that brand and when that will happen hasn’t been disclosed. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by year-end.
BT Sport and a majority of BT TV customers will receive an additional benefit from the JV. They’ll get access to Discovery+ as part of their existing subscription. Discovery+ offers live and on-demand coverage of Eurosport events.
“Combining [the premium sport offering] 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,” said Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of WBD Sports Europe, in a statement.
WBD is right to hitch onto the sport streaming bandwagon. A May study from Parks Associates showed out of 43% of U.S. households that have streamed live content in the past three months, 61% recently watched a live sporting event. Paul Erickson, director of research at Parks Associates, said in a statement sports content is “key to drawing and keeping an engaged livestream viewer base.”
The JV also plays into WBD’s goal to enhance content while optimizing return on investment. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said on last month’s Q1 earnings call the company wants to be “more consistent and efficient in how we allocate our content spend across the entire global portfolio.”