BT Sport, a UK pay TV channel, will rebrand this summer as TNT Sports. The channel, which broadcasts the Premier League and the Champions League in the UK, is part of the Warner Bros-Discovery family. The same goes for TNT, hence the name change.
SportPro’s Steve McCaskill points out that the bundling of BT Sport into TNT gives the media conglomerate consistency. TNT broadcasts USMNT and USWNT in the United States. It also has coverage of the NHL and NBA. Now, internationally, more football will be broadcast by the same name in the form of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League (though only in the UK and not the US).
Discovery+ will have live broadcasts of the Premier League
As a result of this joint venture, BT Sport’s live sports offerings will arrive on the Discovery+ streaming platform before the start of the 2023/24 campaign. Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of WBD Sports Europe, called the merger with Discovery+ a “simpler proposition” for customers.
The joint venture also includes Eurosport, a group of channels that broadcast selected soccer leagues. However, Eurosport’s main attraction is the fact that it broadcasts the Olympic Games in most European countries.
With Eurosport airing on Discovery+ and on TV in some countries, it won’t join the TNT Sports nomenclature until after the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The official timing of a rebrand for Eurosport also requires discussion with Sky and Virgin Media. Those two providers include the Eurosport channel in their listings.
BT Sport to TNT Sports is nothing more than a rebranding on the same content
Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport ensure that nothing changes. Channel numbers, production content, and general offerings are the same. In fact, BT Sport has extended its agreement to broadcast UEFA club competitions in the UK until 2027.
It plans to continue broadcasting the Premier League on Sky and Amazon when the league reopens its renewal process. However, DAZN and Apple are rumored to be interested in acquiring the rights to the domestic Premier League.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage
