Discovery hooks $2B deal with PGA Tour

Discovery on Monday waded even deeper into sports, signing a $2 billion, 12-year deal with the PGA Tour to air and stream live events and archival footage outside the US.

The deal begins on Jan. 1 and runs through 2030.

Negotiations leading to the massive deal began about a year ago, when Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav set up a meeting with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

“I went to him,” Zaslav told The Post. “But I was only 10 minutes into my ‘we can own golf ’ pitch when he said, ‘This is exactly where we want to go.’ ”

The partnership’s top priority is a direct-to-consumer platform that not only streams the PGA’s nearly 150 tournaments each year but also offers one-stop viewing for golf fans who want to watch highlights, learn about the sport’s history or even improve their game with video lessons.

The yet-unnamed independent streaming service will draw on Discovery’s expertise with its Eurosport Player platform — which already ranks as Europe’s No. 1 OTT sports service — but will not stream or air on Eurosport.

The PGA pact allows Discovery to air its content over its pay-TV and free-to-air channels or sublicense those rights to others.

The deal kicks off with annual rights payments to the PGA of $50 million in the first two years, which will increase to $100 million as more countries are opened in 2021, and then ramp up through 2030, Discovery said in statement.

Half of the PGA’s top 50 players are from outside the US, including two from China, which creates lots of opportunities, Zaslav said.

Discovery shares added 14 cents on Monday, to $21.09.