Discovery Communications is now the majority owner of a huge European sports media entity.
The David Zaslav-helmed media giant had already snapped up a 20 percent stake in Eurosport in January and just increased its stake to 51 percent in a deal announced Tuesday.
The service, co-owned with French broadcaster TF1, airs a host of major sporting events, including UEFA Champions League, the Tour de France and the French Open.
Discovery says it will pursue other rights to bolster the service, a move that could put it into competition in Europe with ESPN.
The purchase pushes the Discovery, which owns its namesake cable network, TLC, Animal Planet and others, into a new arena with rapidly growing prospects.
Most European sports services operate on a national basis. Eurosport is hoping to grow the pan-continental niche.
The service has a huge Web presence and broadcasts sports events via mobile devices on the continent. The site is operated in concert with Yahoo!.
The Eurosport Group’s enterprise value is put at $1.2 billion. It reaches 133 million households.