Discovery Agrees to Acquire All of Eurosport

Discovery Communications on Wednesday said it agreed to acquire all of Eurosport, paying $534 million for the 49% of the company it didn’t already own.

Discovery bought the sports programmer from TF1 Group. Last month Eurosport announced a deal getting rights to the Olympics in Europe through 2024.

At a time when ratings are dropping and more and more programming is being watched on demand, sports is seen as programming that will be attractive to both advertisers and distributors in the digital era.

“Discovery Communications is excited to expand and deepen our investment in Eurosport as we continue to strengthen our newest global brand with locally relevant sports rights that create value for fans, advertisers and distributors,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav, said in a statement “In 2012, we began our investment with a 20% stake in Eurosport and increased that investment to 51% more than a year ago. Taking full control of Eurosport is the culmination of our commitment to strengthening Eurosport as a premier sports brand and fully integrating this business within Discovery’s unmatched global portfolio. I would like to thank TF1 for being great partners to us on this journey for the past few years.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.