Warner Bros.  Discovery, a joint venture of BT Sports, has been licensed by the UK competition watchdog –

Warner Bros. Discovery, a joint venture of BT Sports, has been licensed by the UK competition watchdog –

Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group on Friday welcomed the decision by UK regulators to approve the creation of a joint venture in the UK and Ireland.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its decision to allow the deal on Friday. BT and Warner Bros. Discovery said this would allow them to complete the deal “in the next few weeks and transfer each of their assets to the new company.” They said the company would have “one of the largest portfolios of sports rights” in the UK and Ireland.

The CMA considered whether the commitment would result in a substantial reduction in competition in any UK market for goods or services.

“Both BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially keep their brands and product offerings separate in the market before merging under a single brand in the future,” the company’s partners said.

said Andrew Georgiou, board member of Enterprise Futures and president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe: “Combining the capabilities, portfolio and scale of BT Sport and Eurosport UK will be a huge win for fans in the UK, UK and Ireland. Introducing a new destination with all the sports you love in one place. We are now looking forward to closing the transaction and having the opportunity to further engage all stakeholders in the formation and development of the joint venture.”

Mark Alera, President of Inbound Venture and CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, added: “It is great news that CMA has approved the new JV we are forming with Warner Bros. with Discovery bringing together the best of BT Sport and Eurosport UK. to create an exciting new offering for live sports programming in the UK. Today is a big milestone as we are now looking forward to the first day of new business, which we hope will be in the coming weeks. “

BT, which has rights deals for English Premier League football, English Premier League rugby and cricket, said last spring it wanted to focus on its core telecoms business and was in talks with potential partners about the future of BT Sport. , which generates losses. . When negotiations for the venture were first announced, the partners said the deal would bring together their “broad portfolio of premium sports rights, including the Olympics, the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the great cycling tour and tennis Grand Slams.” First season of rugby and winter sports world championships.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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