Premier League broadcaster BT Sport renamed TNT Sports

BT Sport, a pay-TV channel in the United Kingdom, will undergo a rebrand this summer to 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.

Steve McCaskill from SportPro notes the bundling of BT Sport into TNT gives the media conglomerate consistency. TNT broadcasts the USMNT and USWNT stateside. It also has coverage of the NHL and NBA. Now, internationally, the same name will broadcast more soccer in the form of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League (although in the UK only, and not in the US).

Discovery+ to have live Premier League broadcasts

As a result of this joint venture, BT Sport’s live sports offerings will land on streaming platform Discovery+ before the 2023/24 campaign begins. 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 broadcasts select soccer leagues. However, the main draw for Eurosport is the fact that it broadcasts the Olympics in most of the European countries.

With Eurosport airing on Discovery+ and on TV in some countries, it will not join the TNT Sports nomenclature until after the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Official timing on 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 no more than a rebrand on same content

Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport ensure that nothing changes. The channel numbers, production content and overall offerings are the same. In fact, BT Sport extended its deal to broadcast UEFA club competitions in the UK through 2027.

It plans to continue to broadcast the Premier League with Sky and Amazon when the league reopens its renewal process. However, DAZN and Apple are rumored to be interested in acquiring domestic Premier League rights.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage