BT close to agreeing $800m sale of BT Sport - report

dl bt british telecom telecommunications telecoms utilities broadband mobile internet 5g head office london sign ftse 100 min — BTCompany photo / BT Group

BT Group is reportedly close to agreeing the sale of its sports broadcasting arm to streaming firm Dazn in a deal worth an estimated $800m.

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According to Reuters, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the sale of BT Sport to the US sports streaming specialist could be announced as early as February.

Dazn already owns pan-European broadcaster Eurosport, and acquiring BT Sport would expand its presence in the UK and Ireland. Crucially, it would also give it access to much sought-after rights to the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

BT Sport has around 5m total viewing households.

Dazn and the telecoms blue chip are understood to have been in protracted negotiations since last autumn. US media group Discovery emerged as a rival bidder in December, and talks between the two are ongoing, Reuters said, although Dazn is viewed as the leading contender.

Backed by billionaire investor Len Blavatnik, Dazn has around 11m subscribers and posted a $2.15bn loss in 2019, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to Reuters.

BT, Dazn and Discovery all declined to comment on the report.

As at 1115 GMT, shares in BT were ahead 1% at 176.6p. The sale of BT Sport would free up cash for BT and allow it to concentrate on the costly rollout of its residential fibre to the premises network.