A U.S. district court judge ruled Tuesday that AT&T’s planned $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner could proceed despite the Justice Department’s antitrust objections. That decision paves the way for the new mega-company to become an immediate player for sports broadcast rights.
AT&T, which acquired DirecTV in 2014, can provide the telecommunications infrastructure, and Time Warner—which counts Turner Sports and HBO among its subsidiaries—has a ready-made platform and existing rights deals for the NBA, NCAA basketball, MLB, the UEFA Champions League and PGA golf, among others. That existing content appears not only on linear TV such as TBS and TNT, but also on OTT offerings such as NBA League Pass and Turner Sports’ new live sports hub, Bleacher Report Live.
“We are pleased that, after conducting a full and fair trial on the merits, the Court has categorically rejected the government’s lawsuit to block our merger with Time Warner,” said David McAtee, AT&T’s general counsel, in a statement. “We thank the Court for its thorough and timely examination of the evidence, and we compliment our colleagues at the Department of Justice on their dedicated representation of the government. We look forward to closing the merger on or before June 20 so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable, mobile, and innovative.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Imaginations will run rampant with theories about how this will shake up the sports world. This merger turns AT&T/Time Warner into a colossal corporation and also paves the way for other major media consolidations. CNBC reported earlier this week that Comcast (CNBC’s parent company) would make a significant bid for the Fox assets that Disney has been trying to acquire—a set that includes a series of regional sports networks.
A stated intention of AT&T’s pursuit of Time Warner is to acquire the content and studio assets needed to fuel a streaming competitor to the likes of Netflix and Amazon. DirecTV has begun broadcasting some sports in live 4K HDR, and its OTT offshoot, DirecTV Now, has been adding to its stable of sports offerings. Given the continued demand for live sports and the established Turner Sports platform, there is little doubt AT&T will become a major player in the sports market.