BT Group forms a new premium sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport JV to rebrand into single entity By Heather McLean, Editor
Thursday, May 12, 2022 - 17:32
Print This Story
BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery have announced a new joint venture (JV) that will provide viewers in the UK and Ireland with access to both broadcasters' content. Going forward, both products will be rebranded under a new identity.
Following its announcement of exclusive discussions on 3 February 2022, BT Group has agreed a set of definitive agreements with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a 50:50 joint venture company to create a new premium sport offering for the UK and Ireland and to transfer the operating businesses of BT Sport to Warner Bros. Discovery.
It's not about swapping one for the other or replacing one with the other. It's actually additive; we're adding rights and we're adding capability and we're adding the strength of two global companies around what we're doing and that is of increased value
Speaking in a press conference, Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, comments: Warner Brothers Discovery will take on the operating control and day-to-day functions of the joint venture. As part of that, the BT Sport team, who've done a fantastic job in building what is a premium sports product in the UK market, will join our team and we'll have one single team operating all platforms across both the Eurosport UK business and the BT Sport business.
By bringing together the sports content offering of both BT Sport and Eurosport UK, the JV will have an extensive portfolio of premium sports rights including 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.
Those customers who access BT Sport through BT directly, and the majority of BT TV customers, are set to now receive discovery , the entertainment streaming service which is home to Eurosport's live and on-demand streaming offer in the UK and Ireland, as part of existing subscriptions.
Continues Georgiou: We have to go through regulatory approval and so until that happens, we're not really at the start line and that's our next focus. But once that happens, then what will happen in the marketplace is pretty simple. Eurosports, UK and BT sports will remain as is for a period of time in what I call phase two. Then beyond that, we plan to bring the sports content from both businesses into a single new brand that we will launch into the marketplace.
Single new brand for bigger service
On the coming single new brand, Discovery Sports senior vice president of content and production, Scott Young, says that following on from Warner Bros.' recent announcement in March that it is going to combine Discovery and HBO Max content into a single product, he expects BT Sport to become part of that proposition.
To the average punter on the high street, who is Discovery? No one's really heard of Discovery and more to the matter, Discovery . So what's the branding of this entity going to be? And that's crucial to the future of this venture
Young explains: As we evolve over time, bringing the BT Sport and Eurosport UK content onto the same product is a really compelling consumer proposition because we have got a lot of fragmentation and we are saying to the consumer, actually, this is one product where you can get a lot of great genres of content in one place that can satisfy very many different members of every household.
I think that is a really big winning formula for us. So that is really exciting, Young notes.
On whether BT Sport should be concerned in any way that the brand loyalty and recognition the broadcaster has in the UK will be undermined by the new Discovery brand, which is less widely recognised in the country, BT Sport chief operating officer, Jamie Hindhaugh, says a resounding no , while Georgiou says: I think consumers are going to get a better value proposition [which] is ultimately what we're trying to do through this experience. It's not about swapping one for the other or replacing one with the other. It's actually additive; we're adding rights and we're adding capability and we're adding the strength of two global companies around what we're doing and that is of increased value. So I hope the fans who currently engage on either platform at the moment will see an improvement in what their perception is of a combined service and offering. That's ultimately our goal.
However, Paolo Pescatore, tech, media and telco analyst at PP Foresight, has a more cautious view on the plan to merge the content of both broadcasters under a single brand: To the average punter on the high street, who is Discovery? No one's really heard of Discovery and more to the matter, Discovery . So what's the branding of this entity going to be? And that's crucial to the future of this venture.
Simon Green [former head of BT Sport] and Jamie Hindhaugh have done a really great job of focusing on the BT Sport product and taking people to the heart of sports, from big screens to the living room and out and about on mobile devices, continues Pescatore. They will have to be very careful on how they manage this new entity; BT Sport is very much in people homes and hearts, but Discovery isn't. This future brand is a huge question mark - not for BT Sport, but for Discovery. Whereas BT Sport is very clear as a sports-focused service, when you look at Discovery, it's been hugely fragmented - with Discovery, Discovery , Eurosport, and now Warner Bro
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
BT Group forms a new premium sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport JV to rebrand into single entity By Heather McLean, Editor 
