live TV sport

Televised sport is big business, from the sums broadcasters pay for rights, to the audiences and advertising revenue it generates and the eye-watering salaries of its stars.

At the end of last month in Saudi Arabia, depending on broadcaster DAZN’s pay-per-view receipts, Tyson Fury could have pocketed more than £100m from his heavyweight unification fight against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. And he lost.

Recent events in the sports rights industry will both reinvigorate and reset the battle for live TV sport in the UK and beyond. 

The 50:50 joint venture between BT and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), agreed in May, will have ramifications for all the major rights holders. These include the dominant live sports broadcaster, Sky, which continues to have its own sports partnerships with WBD. 

BT’s deal with WBD also has implications for Amazon and other digital platform behemoths that are poised to increase their live sports content.