BT Sports to Be Rebranded as TNT Sports in the U.K.
TNT Sports is to be the new name of the premium sports brand being launched in the U.K. by BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. It will replace the name BT Sport. The Eurosport brand, owned by WBD, will also disappear from the U.K.
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The move, announced on Tuesday, will take effect later this year, from the start of the U.K. 2023-24 soccer season.
The companies were less specific about the timetable for the disappearance of the Eurosport name. Eurosport, which has been a brand in the U.K. since 1989, will be “rolled into the new brand at some time in the future.”
TNT Sports is already used as WBD’s sports brand on Latin America and the U.S.
In the U.K., the joint venture crucially carries Premier League, Champions League and UEFA Europa League soccer. It also has coverage of the Olympic Games, cycling, rugby, MotoGP, UFC, boxing, WWE, tennis Grand Slams and winter sports.
The new brand name is “another important step towards the launch of a simpler and even more compelling offering for sports fans in the U.K. and Ireland,” said Andrew Georgiou, board member of the joint venture and president and MD, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe. “The TNT Sports name is already synonymous with premium live sport in a number of countries around the world and a further sign of the global scale and expertise that Warner Bros. Discovery brings to its partnership with BT.”
“We’re delighted with the progress being made on the joint venture. This change marks the next logical step for BT Sport, as well as the broader transformation of our consumer business. Once launched this will become a hugely exciting new premium sports offering for customers in the U.K. and Ireland,” said Marc Allera, CEO BT consumer division and chairman of the joint venture.
The two companies launched their merged operation in September 2022. While the venture has 50-50 ownership, WBD manages the operation after BT Sport transferred its production and operational assets.
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