TNT Sports
FormerlyTurner Sports (1995–2022)
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (2022–2023)
TypeDivision
IndustryBroadcasting
GenreSports
PredecessorDiscovery Sports (2001–2022)
Founded1995 (1995)
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
Key people
Luis Silberwasser (Chairman, WBD Sports)[1][2]
Andrew Georgiou (President, WBD Sports Europe)
BrandsTNT Sports (with BT Group)
Eurosport
Services
ParentWarner Bros. Discovery
SubsidiariesWarner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe
Websitepress.wbd.com/us/brands/wbd-sports
(United States)
discoverysports.com
(Europe)

TNT Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports and briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasts on its parent company's streaming service Max and on their various cable channels in the United States, including TBS, TNT, and TruTV. It also operates the online digital media outlets for the NCAA, NBA, PGA Tour, and PGA of America. TNT Sports also operates the sports news website Bleacher Report, as well as NBA TV on behalf of the NBA. It also owns a minority share in the MLB Network. Internationally, the division is branded as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, which operates Eurosport.

Turner also owned WPCH-TV, the former WTBS, which was the longtime television home for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. This relationship ended after the 2013 season. WPCH-TV was itself sold to Meredith Corporation in 2017 (which operated the station under a local marketing agreement since 2011 with CBS affiliate WGCL-TV), then to Gray Television in 2021.

Following AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2018, it was announced in March 2019 that the Turner Broadcasting System would be dissolved, and its assets dispersed into Warner Bros. and two new units. Turner Sports was combined with CNN and AT&T SportsNet into a new division known as WarnerMedia News & Sports, led by CNN president Jeff Zucker.[3] In October 2020, Turner Sports announced a partnership with DraftKings to be the exclusive provider of daily fantasy and sports betting information for most Turner Sports and Bleacher Report properties, excluding the NBA due to its league-wide deal with competitor FanDuel.[4]

In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery was formed with the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Discovery, Inc. Turner Sports was then renamed as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, with the brand also being used for the division that manages Discovery's existing European and international sports assets such as Eurosport, Golf Digest, TNT Sports, and Global Cycling Network.

Beginning in fall 2023, the division was rebranded to TNT Sports.[5]

History

Former Turner Sports logo

The division began in the 1970s as the sports division of Turner Broadcasting System's basic cable networks, with separate TBS Sports and TNT Sports brands for TBS and TNT, respectively (since 2022 this brand is still effective to this day). In 1995, a unified Turner Sports rebranding began to be used, accompanied by an intro and outro sequence featuring the voice of CNN Headline News anchor Don Harrison and music from Edd Kalehoff. In 1996, Turner Sports became a division of Time Warner after it merged with Turner Broadcasting System.

In August 2012, Turner Sports acquired the sports news website Bleacher Report for $175 million.[6]

In 2018, Turner Sports launched a subscription streaming service as a branch of Bleacher Report, known as B/R Live; it would be anchored by Turner's recently-acquired rights to the UEFA Champions League, while also featuring content from the NCAA, NBA League Pass, and others.[7]

Following AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2018, it was announced in March 2019 that the Turner Broadcasting System would be dissolved, and its assets dispersed into Warner Bros. and two new units. Turner Sports was combined with CNN and the AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks into a new division known as WarnerMedia News & Sports, led by CNN president Jeff Zucker.[3]

In October 2020, Turner Sports announced a partnership with DraftKings to be the exclusive provider of daily fantasy and sports betting information for most Turner Sports and Bleacher Report properties, excluding the NBA due to its league-wide deal with competitor FanDuel.[4]

Current properties

  • NBA on TNT (1989–present)
    • Exclusive national regular season Thursday night games
    • Exclusive national regular season Tuesday night games outside of in-season tournament.
    • NBA in-season tournament:
      • Exclusive Tuesday night conference group play games
      • Exclusive Eastern and Western Conference quarterfinal round in-season tournament games
      • Exclusive Western Conference in-season tournament's semifinal game (even years only)
      • Exclusive Eastern Conference in-season tournament's semifinal game (odd years only)
    • Martin Luther King Day games (annually)
    • NBA All-Star Weekend (2003–present)
    • Inside the NBA
    • NBA play-in tournament:
      • Exclusive 7–8 seeded games, both conferences (2022–present).
      • Exclusive Eastern Conference No. 8 seed game (odd-numbered years)
      • Exclusive Western Conference No. 8 seed game (even-numbered years)
    • NBA playoffs (1990–present)
      • First round (generally Sundays through Thursdays, and selected Saturday games, co-exists with regional broadcasts)
      • Second round (generally Sundays through Wednesdays, and selected Saturday games)
      • Exclusive Eastern Conference Finals (odd-numbered years)
      • Exclusive Western Conference Finals (even-numbered years)
    • Spanish language simulcasts on CNN en Español in the United States.
  • MLB on TBS (2007–present)
  • NHL on TNT[9] (2021–present)
    • Up to 72 exclusive national games per-season (Wednesdays and some Sundays in the second half of the season)
    • NHL Face Off
    • NHL Post Game
    • Winter Classic (annually)
    • Thanksgiving Showdown (annually since 2022)
    • Stadium Series (selected years, depending on scheduling conflicts)
    • Heritage Classic (selected years, the Heritage Classic is not held every season)
    • Stanley Cup playoffs (games also on TBS)
      • Selected first and second round games (on TNT primarily on days when not airing the NBA, depending on which league begins their postseason first or if both leagues start their playoffs at roughly the same time; TBS may broadcast on any day when not airing MLB or AEW wrestling; first round co-exists with regional broadcasts)
      • One exclusive conference finals series per season (ESPN/ABC has first choice as to which conference to air,[10] TNT then broadcasts the other series).
    • Exclusive Stanley Cup Finals (odd-numbered years on TNT; TBS and truTV may also air simulcasts or alternative broadcasts).
    • NHL Awards (odd-numbered years on TNT; alternates with ESPN).
  • College Basketball
    • NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (2011–present; in partnership with CBS Sports)
      • First Four on truTV (except for 2021 which aired on both truTV and TBS)
      • First and second rounds on TNT, TBS, and truTV with CBS
      • Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight split between TBS and CBS
      • Final Four in 2014 and 2015 on TBS
      • Final Four and National Championship in even-numbered years from 2016 until 2032 (except 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States) (airs on TBS; TNT and truTV may also air simulcasts or alternative broadcasts)
    • NBA HBCU Classic (2021–present)
    • Hall of Fame Series (2023–present)
  • ELeague (Turner Sports/WME-IMG Partnership, since 2016)[11][12]
  • All Elite Wrestling
  • Ring of Honor
    • Ring of Honor PPVs (2022–present) (airs on Bleacher Report)
  • Golf
  • U.S. Soccer (2023–present)[13]

Other properties

TNT Sports Interactive properties

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties

Former properties

AT&T SportsNet

Turner South

CNN/SI

TBS

TNT

Turner Sports Interactive

  • NASCAR.com (2001–2013)[23]
    • NASCAR.COM, and the organization's other digital and social media platforms, were managed by Turner Sports from 2001 to 2013.
  • PGATOUR.COM (2006–2012)[24]
    • Turner Sports New Media partnered with the PGA Tour to operate PGATOUR.com, the official site of the tour.
  • GolfTV

truTV

B/R Live

First-run syndication

Prime Sports

Notable TNT Sports personalities (past and present)

^D denotes deceased.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin; Draper, Kevin (June 9, 2022). "Warner Bros. Discovery Picks Sports Chief to Navigate Streaming Era". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  2. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (June 9, 2022). "Warner Bros. Discovery Taps Luis Silberwasser as News Sports Chief". Variety. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Feiner, Lauren (March 4, 2019). "Layoffs expected as WarnerMedia reorganizes its leadership team after AT&T acquisition". CNBC. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Young, Jabari (15 October 2020). "DraftKings strikes another media partnership, this time with AT&T's Turner Sports". CNBC. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "TNT Sports and Cosm Announce Partnership to Deliver Live Sports in "Shared Reality" Immersive Venues" (Press release). Warner Bros. Discovery. October 31, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  6. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (August 6, 2012). "Update: It's Done. Time Warner Buys Bleacher Report, Price Reportedly $175M". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  7. ↑ Spangler, Todd (March 27, 2018). "Turner Sports Unveils 'Bleacher Report Live' Pay-Streaming Service". Variety. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Turner Sports and Major League Baseball Reach Seven-Year Media Rights Extension Through 2028" (Press release). New York: Warner Bros. Discovery. September 24, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  9. ↑ "The NHL Comes to Turner" (Press release). New York: Warner Bros. Discovery.
  10. ↑ Young, Jabari (July 9, 2021). "NHL moving to Turner Sports is $1 billion risk-reward for hockey". CNBC. New York: NBCUniversal.
  11. ↑ "Turner, WME-IMG Get in the Esports Game With Own League". AdAge. 23 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Spangler, Todd (September 24, 2015). "Turner, WME/IMG Form E-Sports League, With TBS to Air Live Events". Variety. Los Angeles: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  13. ↑ "WarnerMedia signs eight-year deal with U.S. Soccer for men's and women's national team matches". Awful Announcing. 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  14. ↑ "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement". NCAA (Press release). Indianapolis: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. April 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Turner wins NCAA digital rights". Associated Presswebsite=ESPN. September 21, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  16. ↑ Russ, Hilary (February 7, 2019). "Turner Sports inks deal with Caesars for Bleacher Report betting..." Atlanta. Reuters. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  17. ↑ Sutton, Mark (April 23, 2021). "Discovery Inc takes full ownership of Play Sports Group". Cycling Industry News. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  18. ↑ Reid, Carlton (February 8, 2021). "Discovery Subsidiary GCN To Launch Netflix-Style Streaming TV Channel For Cyclists". Forbes. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Mariners to take full control of ROOT Sports NW, clouding team's financial outlook". The Seattle Times. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  20. ↑ "Turner Sports Reaches Multi-Year Agreement to Present NCAA National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship". NCAA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Turner Sports Reaches Multi-Year Agreement to Present NCAA National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship". Turner Sports. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  22. 1 2 Ourand, John (February 24, 2017). "Turner's Soccer Shocker". SportsBusinessDaily.com. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Turner Sports Acquires NASCAR's Internet Rights; NASCAR Online to be Produced by Turner Sports". WarnerMedia. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  24. ↑ "Turner Sports New Media, PGA Tour Ink Multi-Year Web Deal". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. September 12, 2006. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  25. ↑ "Report: Turner secures US streaming rights for SPL". SportsPro. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  26. ↑ "Where to find soccer leagues and competitions on US TV and streaming".
  27. ↑ Bupp, Phillip (July 31, 2018). "Turner Sports to broadcast 46 Champions League matches on TNT, offer B/R Live subscription on per match basis". AwfulAnnouncing.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Legendary Hall of Fame Broadcaster Marv Albert Announces His Retirement Following TNT's Coverage of 2021 NBA Eastern Conference Finals". pressroom.warnermedia.com. WarnerMedia. May 17, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  29. ↑ Bieler, Des (January 27, 2022). "Warriors' Draymond Green signs deal with Turner Sports while still active in NBA". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Ernie Johnson bio". www.turner.com. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  31. ↑ "Shaquille O'Neal and Turner Sports reach multi-year extension". NBA.com. August 24, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Catch up with Turner Sports rising star Roslyn Gold-Onwude". TheShadowLeague.com. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Candace Parker & Turner Sports Reach Multi-Year Extension". pressroom.warnermedia.com. WarnerMedia. September 9, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Dwyane Wade signs deal to be NBA Analyst for TNT". ESPN. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
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