DAZN is reportedly nearing a deal with telecom company BT Group to acquire BT Sport for $800 million.

Four people familiar with the situation told Reuters the agreement could be reached this month. The companies were reportedly closing in on a deal last fall but negotiations stalled following concerns over revenue assurances and DAZN’s streaming capabilities.

U.S.-based Discovery, which is in the process of a $43 billion merger with WarnerMedia, expressed interest in BT Sport as DAZN’s negotiations lulled, proposing a joint venture with BT.

Reuters reported that Discovery is still holding negotiations, though DAZN is considered the lead bidder.

Sports Gains

Acquiring BT Sport would add a number of broadcasting rights to DAZN’s roster. In 2019, the company spent roughly $1.7 billion on sports rights according to regulatory filings.

• In May, the Premier League extended its deals with Sky, Amazon, BBC, and BT from 2022 to 2025. Collectively, the deals are worth $7 billion.
• BT Sport also has rights to cricket, rugby, and Australian rules football.

Any deal will need approval from Sky due to its partnership with BT Sport. Sky lost its bid for Serie A rights to DAZN in March after the streamer’s $2.96 billion deal. DAZN rejected Sky’s offer to share the rights for $1.8 billion.

The battle over the new owners of the Washington Spirit may be ending.

Minority owner Michele Kang — for whom Spirit players previously voiced support — has staged a coup among investors, taking control of the team and its operations, according to The Athletic.

• Eight debt-holders aligned with Kang converted their shares to equity at her request in order to gain voting rights, per The Athletic. Kang and the investors who support her now make up a 52% stake.
• The biggest debt-holder, Devin Talbott, reportedly sold his piece to Kang for $500,000.
• Majority owner Steve Baldwin “no longer has control of the team or the ability to dictate the terms of any sale,” according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

The league may still have to approve several of these maneuvers.

The Road to Ownership

Ownership has been up in the air since October, when Baldwin agreed to step down in the wake of news about a sexual assault scandal and toxic workplace culture that led to an investigation.

Kang placed a $35 million bid to buy the team, but Baldwin reportedly flouted it, negotiating instead with a group that included Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly that offered only $25 million.

In response, Kang and several investors threatened legal recourse for Baldwin’s pursuit of the low-ball bid. Boehly’s group has now reportedly withdrawn from negotiations.

“Let us be clear,” players previously said in a statement. “The person we trust is Michele.”

A complicated deal that could see Italy’s largest telecom company change hands added a new wrinkle with an offer to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

KKR & Co. has invited the Public Investment Fund to join its proposed acquisition of Telecom Italia, according to Bloomberg. The deal still needs to be approved by Italian regulators.

Telecom Italia paired with DAZN in July 2021 to gain domestic rights to Serie A in a three-year, $1.1 billion deal. Reports surfaced in November that the company is looking to renegotiate the deal.

• KKR made its initial takeover bid in November, triggering a 38% increase in Telecom Italia’s stock.
• The Turin-based company has kept most of those gains and had a market capitalization of around $10.9 billion as of Tuesday.
• KKR has reached out to other sovereign wealth funds to help finance the bid, per Bloomberg.

PIF’s Recent Moves

The PIF has had a growing presence in sports and gaming. It’s reportedly close to acquiring Serie A’s Inter Milan for $1 billion and bought the Premier League’s Newcastle for $409 million in October 2021 after 18 months of clearing regulatory hurdles.

The deal contributed to the resignation of Premier League chair Gary Hoffman.

The fund, with over $430 billion in assets, also has heavy investments in gaming, with $2.9 billion invested in Activision Blizzard, $2 billion in Electronic Arts, and $869 million in Take-Two Interactive as of Sept. 30, 2021.

The first college football season of the name, image, and likeness era has come to a close, and both coaches in the title game — Alabama’s Nick Saban and SEC Coach of the Year Kirby Smart of Georgia — have voiced discontent over a trend that could be a major focus going forward.

Schools using NIL to entice potential recruits could cause an “imbalance relative to who can dominate college football,” Saban said prior to Monday’s title game.

The NCAA’s interim policy attempted to prohibit NIL from influencing recruiting, but it’s unclear how much muscle the governing body has to actually enforce it.

Haves and Have-Nots

The coaches’ comments are the latest in an industry-wide debate over whether NIL should be limited to preserve fairness, though college football recruiting was imbalanced long before NIL. After all, two of the top spenders on recruiting faced off in the title game.

Either way, the coaches are right about one thing: NIL is becoming a major factor in recruits’ decisions.

• Athletes have begun asking about NIL when taking recruiting trips, officials previously told Front Office Sports.
• Schools and conferences at all levels have assembled and advertised robust programs to show athletes they want to support NIL endeavors.
• Donors and alumni at schools have taken it a step further, organizing collectives that promise millions to their schools’ athletes.
• Former NFL player Charlie Batch offered a $1 million deal to former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams if he transfers to Eastern Michigan.

Saban has reiterated a common request: the need for “national legislation.”