Overview
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at Warner Bros. Discovery's complex in Chiswick Business Park, London, having been based at Here East, the former International Broadcast Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London until July 2023. The channels are available on the BT TV, Sky and Virgin Media television platforms in the UK and Sky and Vodafone TV in the Republic of Ireland.
The networks were established in 2013 after BT Group's acquisition of rights to the Premier League. BT also acquired the operations of previous rightsholder ESPN prior to launch, integrating them with BT Sport. In 2022, BT Group announced an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a joint venture that would eventually merge BT Sport with its local Eurosport business. The transaction was approved in July 2022 and on 18 July 2023 BT Sport rebranded as TNT Sports, with Eurosport UK to be folded into the brand no later than early-2026.
History
Premier League deal, launch
News of BT's first foray into sports broadcasting first came about on 12 June 2012, when it was announced that they had won the rights to 38 live Premier League matches for three seasons from the 2013–14 season, beating ESPN UK, which had held the shared rights with Sky Sports the previous season. BT announced at the same time that it would be launching its own channel for its new football coverage. The news followed speculation that ESPN was reconsidering its position in the UK. The following months also saw BT win rights to Premiership Rugby and its associated 7s Series, and American, Brazilian, French and Italian top-flight football.
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