28 January 2025 - SHANK Media, by Matt Hooper: Today Warner Bros Discovery confirmed that Eurosport in the UK was to be integrated into TNT Sports, bringing an end to 36 years of the pan European sports network broadcasting on its own linear channels in the UK. Eurosport was launched in 1989 as a Joint Venture between the European Broadcasting Union and Sky, before being taken over by TF1 Group in 1991. In 2015 Discovery Communications assumed full control of Eurosport, announcing their first pan-European deal to broadcast the Olympic Games, then in 2022 Warner Bros Discovery entered a into an agreement to form a joint venture with BT, merging the operations of BT Sport and Eurosport UK.

A press release from WBD Sports said the following:
Cycling, Tennis, Snooker and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will join the Premier League, UEFA European Club Football, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, UFC and Boxing live on TNT Sports
Eurosport to integrate with TNT Sports in the UK & Ireland from 28 February 2025
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports continues to deliver content and production for all sports under the TNT Sports brand in the UK & Ireland
New and extended free-to-air sports programming and coverage coming to Quest, available via Freeview and all major television platforms
Eurosport channels and brand will continue in more than 50 territories across Europe
TNT Sports has today announced the addition of the full line-up of Eurosport live and non-live content to its channels and platforms in the UK and Ireland from the end of February 2025.
Delivering on an ambition set out ahead of TNT Sports’ launch in 2023, this now creates a single destination for an incredible line-up of live sport that - from 28 February – will bring Australian Open & Roland-Garros tennis, Grand Tour cycling, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, every major winter sports World Championship and World Cup event, British and World Superbikes, snooker and the Olympic Games 2026-2032 alongside the Premier League, UEFA European club football, Premiership men’s and women’s rugby, MotoGP, international cricket, UFC and boxing, all available on TNT Sports and its streaming home, discovery+.

To continue the long-term efforts to ensure broad access to sport, TNT Sports will bring fans a selection of compelling sports programming, documentaries and live sport on free-to-air channel Quest. TNT Sports already partners with UK broadcasters on a range of sports rights, as recently seen with the BBC and the Emirates FA Cup.

Scott Young, Group SVP, Content, Production & Business Operations, WBD Sports Europe, said: “Combining Eurosport and TNT Sports content in the UK and Ireland will enable us to offer a single, premium viewing experience for sports fans. This move in the UK and Ireland will also continue to best deliver value for our leagues and federation partners, as we continue our 35 years plus commitment to investment and championing of sport on our screens, which remains a fundamental part of the success of grassroots through to elite.

“TNT Sports will also continue to bring more content to fans on Warner Bros. Discovery’s free-to-air channel Quest. In 2025, this will include broadcasting every MotoGP Sprint race, adding to existing live Bennetts British Superbikes coverage, a brand-new weekly cycling show covering all key moments of the season, continue highlights of the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a España, plus premiere a range of new sports documentaries.”

The Eurosport brand and channels will integrate with TNT Sports from 28 February 2025 in the UK and Ireland. Elsewhere, Eurosport’s channels and brand will remain unchanged in more than 50 other countries and territories where it is available today.
In my opinion today is a sad day. Eurosport is unique, and it has played a unique role in the history of sports television in the UK. Eurosport, the way they cover sport, and the sports they cover, largely do not align with the TNT Sports or its audience. In the years to come I would expect Sky to make a serious move to add the Australian Open and French Open Tennis to its rights portfolio for Sky Sports Tennis, and I would not be shocked to see them challenge TNT Sports for the UK rights to the Olympic Games in future years. The International Olympic Committee have signed simultaneous deals, one with the European Broadcasting Union for free-to-air coverage, and one with Warner Bros Discovery. The appeal of WBD was that the Olympics was broadcast by one single channel, one brand, and whilst the coverage is still going to be by WBD, just shown on TNT Sports, I could see this divergence from a single brand making a rival bid for the Olympics UK rights by Sky appealing to the IOC.
It is sad to see Eurosport disappear from our screens, with two separate British and pan-European Brands (BT Sport and Eurosport) become a single American sports brand, TNT.

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