Why is the name of BT Sport changed to TNT Sports?

BT Sport will disappear from TV screens in the UK in July as the channel changes its name to TNT Sports, and the upcoming season of Premier League football will be broadcast on the new channel.

The name change follows the purchase of BT Sport by Warner Bros Discovery, which also owns Eurosport.

Over time, the two channels will come together under the TNT Sports brand, and fans will be able to watch the best soccer, rugby, tennis and Olympic sports action all under one banner.

For now, however, Eurosport will remain different: the channel is the main rights holder for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

But what does this mean for subscribers, and what is TNT Sports?

What is BT Sport and what sports does the channel show?

Launched in August 2013, BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels available in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It shows sports including Premier League and Champions League soccer, Premiership and Champions Cup rugby, Australian and New Zealand cricket, and MotoGP.

What is Warner Bros Discovery and when was a merger agreed?

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and BT Group announced last year that they had reached an agreement to form a joint venture that will ultimately merge the Eurosport and BT Sport channels and portfolios. Warner Bros. Discovery is a multinational media conglomerate that operates many of the world’s largest television brands, including CNN and HBO.

What is TNT Sports?

TNT Sports will be a familiar brand to those in Latin America, where it is the home of top-tier national and European soccer. From July 2023, the channel will now have a dedicated brand in the UK and Ireland ahead of the start of the 2023/24 football season.

“The TNT Sports name is already synonymous with world-class live sports in several countries around the world and yet another sign of the global scale and expertise that WBD brings to the partnership with BT,” Andrew Georgiou, CEO of WBD Sports Europe, explained the decision to change the brand.

What does this mean for BT Sport subscribers?

No price changes have yet been flagged for existing BT Sport subscribers, but they haven’t been ruled out ahead of the rebrand either. For viewers, it is expected that BT Sport will simply become TNT Sports, with no new channel to tune into.

For those who regularly watch via the BT Sport app, discovery+ will be the new live streaming home of the renowned channel. BT Sport subscribers already enjoy free access to discovery+, which includes the Eurosport broadcast offering and a wide range of entertainment programming.

What sports will I be able to watch on the new channel after the merger is complete?

The merger will allow sports fans to watch many of the world’s biggest sporting events all under one channel. These include: the Olympic Games, Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, UFC, Boxing, WWE, Tennis Grand Slams, Cycling Grand Tours and the winter sports season.