NDM

Eurosport owner Discovery considering Premier League TV rights bid

Discovery Communications, the new majority shareholder in Eurosport, is considering using its deep pockets to take on BSkyB and BT in the next multibillion-pound war for Premier league TV rights.

The owner of the Discovery factual channel, which has a market capitalisation of $28bn (£19bn), is eying up the UK sports right market after a deal last week to fast-track its acquisition of a controlling stake in Eurosport.Bidding for the next three-year Premier League TV rights deal is expected to start later this year, and the Discovery Communications chief executive, David Zaslav, told the Guardian that his company is considering a bid.

In June 2012 BT made a surprise entry into Premier League TV rights, winning a significant number of top-flight games that had been the preserve of BSkyB, this created them 3 billion.

On Wednesday Discovery increased its stake in Eurosport from 20% to 51%,a year ahead of plan. Best known for Shark Week and other factual programming such as Deadliest Catch, Man Vs Wild and Sons of Guns, Discovery is now seeking to move into TV sport by expanding the pan-European broadcaster's clout in the 54 countries it operates.

French broadcaster TF1 is the other shareholder in Eurosport, which launched in 1989 but has not been a major player in the UK market. It is best known in the UK for its Tour de France and tennis coverage. Eurosport's website is operated as a co-branded partnership with Yahoo.