History of TNT Sports (United Kingdom) in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: June 8, 2025

TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Launched on August 1, 2013, it is now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group. TNT Sports provides live coverage, highlights, and analysis of a wide range of sports, including football (Premier League, Champions League, Europa League), rugby, boxing, and motorsports. It competes with other major sports broadcasters like Sky Sports, offering subscribers access to premium sporting events through various platforms.

January 2013: BT Sport signs deal with WTA

In January 2013, BT Sport signed a deal with the WTA to show 21 live tournaments from the women's tennis tour.

December 2014: BT Sport shares rights to BDO World Darts Championship with BBC Sport

In December 2014, BT Sport shared the rights to the 2015 BDO World Darts Championship alongside BBC Sport.

2015: BT Sport shares rights to BDO World Darts Championship with BBC Sport

In 2015, BT Sport shared the rights to the BDO World Darts Championship alongside BBC Sport. Coverage was presented by Ray Stubbs for the first two years.

August 2016: BT Sport signed a new deal to share rights with Channel 4

In August 2016 BT Sport signed a new 2-year deal to share rights for BDO World Darts Championship this time with Channel 4. Matt Smith took over as presenter with Chris Mason as studio pundit and Reshmin Chowdhury as roving reporter.

2016: BT Sport's deal with WTA ends

In 2016, BT Sport's deal with the WTA came to an end, consisting of up to 800 live hours of coverage every year, each season ending with the WTA Finals.

January 2017: BT Sport has rights to show 52 WTA tournaments

From January 2017, BT Sport had the rights to show 52 WTA tournaments every year.

2018: Sky Sports takes over rights to Caribbean Premier League

From the 2018 edition onwards, Sky Sports took over the rights to broadcast all 34 matches from the Caribbean Premier League.

2018: BT Sport official broadcast partner of Champions and Challenge cups

From the 2018-19 season, BT Sport became the official broadcast partner of the Champions and Challenge cups, broadcasting up to 134 matches per season.

2018: Women's NBA games move to Sky Sports

In 2018, the Women's NBA games also moved to Sky Sports.

2019: BT Sport did not renew their contract for the BDO World Darts Championship

In 2019 BT Sport did not renew their contract for the BDO World Darts Championship tournament and the rights are now held by QUEST and Eurosport.

2019: BT Sport wins rights to broadcast Indian Premier League

In 2019, BT Sport won rights off Sky Sports to broadcast every match of the 2019 Indian Premier League.

2019: Women's NBA games move to Sky Sports

In 2019, the Women's NBA games also moved to Sky Sports.

2019: Last competition on BT Sport was the 2019 WTA Finals

The last competition on BT Sport was the 2019 WTA Finals in which Clare Balding presented coverage alongside Anne Keothavong and Jo Durie.

2019: BT Sport has rights to show 52 WTA tournaments until 2019

Until 2019, BT Sport had the rights to show 52 WTA tournaments every year.

2020: Sky Sports takes over rights to broadcast Indian Premier League

From the 2020 Indian Premier League, the rights switched back to Sky Sports.

2020: Amazon Prime Video exclusive UK broadcaster of WTA Tour

From the 2020 WTA Tour onwards, Amazon Prime Video are now the exclusive UK broadcaster, showing 49 tournaments a year.

2022: Champions Cup broadcasting shared with ITV and RTÉ

In 2022, broadcasting of the Champions Cup was shared with ITV and RTÉ. Both channels simulcast one match from each round and the final.

July 2023: TNT Sports replaced BT Sport

In July 2023, TNT Sports replaced BT Sport and subsequently decided to drop all coverage of College Sport. These were the only rights that TNT Sports decided not to continue showing when it replaced BT Sport.