BT Sport

[Jeff]

[Rdd]

So no real surprises there. The eagle eyed will be interested to see the relative sizes of the assets contributed by both parties (Eurosport U.K./Ireland is basically tiny compared to BT Sport but made a small profit instead of a loss).

[RR]

One interesting sentence in the news release linked to above:

"The JV will also enter into a new agreement with Sky extending beyond 2030 to provide for its distribution of the JV’s combined sports content."

So it sounds like little difference there.

[Brekkie]

Sadly guess BT Sport will be folded into Discovery+ then when the BT Sport App is far superior to both the Eurosport Player and watching via Discovery+.

[thomalex]

So what do we think will happen to the BT Sport brand, will they go with Eurosport?

[Keith]

So what do we think will happen to the BT Sport brand, will they go with Eurosport?

It wouldn't surprise me if in the short to medium term they go with 'BT Eurosport'. Then if Discovery buy out BT's stake at some point in the future the 'BT' part could be dropped again.

[Rdd]

Suspect they will remain separate until August 2023. That allows them to launch the combined package for the 2023-24 FAPL season. As to what the brand will be, I doubt “BT” will be part of it in the long term but equally I’m not sure it will be Eurosport either.

[JAS84]

In Europe they have the previously Discovery-owned Eurosport, in South and Latin America there's TNT Sports, and in the US it's Turner Sports, the latter two being WB brands. Maybe they should rebrand them all as Discovery Sport to create a brand they can market globally?

[Transmission]

A while back I read an American piece which suggested that a new global brand might be useful if they wanted to have some of the same sports rights across several territories and for example utilise the UK Champions League production in the US and the US NBA production in the UK. A bit like what NBC and Sky do with the Premier League but even more closely tied. It was all entirely speculative and with no insider knowledge, though.

I think the truth probably is that nobody knows yet, I would guess that all efforts so far have been on getting the deal done and it's only over the next year that the branding will be decided upon, hence it's buisness as usual for the time being.

[Rdd]

Some talk that the first casualty of the merger will be BT Sport ESPN, though maybe it’s something BT were planning on doing anyway. The suggestion is that only the channel name will change (to BT Sport 4) and they’ll continue to license the content.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2022/05/...nnovation/

[JAS84]

I'm surprised Disney haven't pulled that license anyway - you'd think they'd use the ESPN content on Disney+?

[Jon]

I'm surprised Disney haven't pulled that license anyway - you'd think they'd use the ESPN content on Disney+?

Why if they can make more money selling it to BT?

[Brekkie]

Some talk that the first casualty of the merger will be BT Sport ESPN, though maybe it’s something BT were planning on doing anyway. The suggestion is that only the channel name will change (to BT Sport 4) and they’ll continue to license the content.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2022/05/...nnovation/

Not surprised.  Guess we won't be seeing "BT Warner Bros Discovery Eurosport ESPN" then.

Still not a huge fan of this deal as a viewer so we'll see how it plays out.  I guess like BT used BT Sport to sell broadband Discovery will be hoping it can proper up their fledgling streaming service which I think for most people is that one subscription too many. Feels like the ethos of what Eurosport was though prior to Discovery taking it over is slowly but surely being eroded.

[nwtv2003]

I guess the intention is also to give Discovery+ a bit of beefing up before HBO Max becomes officially available in the UK. Once it does a combined Discovery/BT Sport/HBO or branded as HBO Max will be quite appealing. What BT has shown is that a rival to Sky Sports can be done, but it also shows that you need very deep pockets to keep it afloat.

[Rdd]

Remember Discovery+ as it stands, while it clearly has a USP that no other streamer does (non fiction) it is also quite niche. I have it on a 12 month free trial (thanks Sky) and have barely watched it outside of the Olympics - the summer ones at that!

The issue will be that it’s current price point (€6.99pm for the version with sport) won’t be sustainable with BT Sport added (Sky charging €34pm for BT Sport and Premier Sports together).

As for ESPN, that content is so niche it makes Discovery+ look populist. I love watching the college football on an Autumn Saturday when I get a chance but even among American football fans on this side of the globe 95% do not look past the NFL and the other stuff is more niche still. If it does eventually leave BT I suspect a beefed up ESPN Player is probably it’s more likely home unless ESPN want to reenter the market here (assuming any non compete clause is long spent at this stage).