TNT Sports emerges as Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship brand for U.S. sports broadcasting

Warner Bros. Discovery announced the rebranding of its U.S. sports division from WBD Sports to TNT Sports.

This change aligns with the company’s previous rebranding efforts in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where its BT Sports division was renamed TNT Sports last summer. The rebranding effort is part of a broader strategy by WBD to consolidate its sports branding globally, having previously adopted the TNT brand for its sports channels in Latin America.

TNT Sports focuses on viewfinder, ‘this n that’ language device for European rebrand

BT Sport, Eurosport to become TNT Sports in select European Markets

As part of this rebranding, all sports-related content and productions within the WBD portfolio, including Bleacher Report and Golf Digest, will now fall under the TNT Sports umbrella. This move will see sports programming across various platforms such as TNT, TBS, truTV, and the Max streaming service being branded as TNT Sports.

The division will continue to be overseen by Luis Silberwasser, who serves as the Chair and CEO of TNT Sports.

TNT Sports holds significant sports broadcasting rights post-rebranding, rivaling major networks like ESPN.

Its portfolio includes broadcasting rights for major leagues and events such as the NBA, NHL, MLB, and the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament. While the rebranding represents a shift in business strategy and an effort to unify the global sports brand identity, it is important to note that the individual sports broadcasts, such as “NBA on TNT” and “NHL on TNT,” have already been using their respective channel brands.

Advertisement

The most notable change will be seen during March Madness and MLB season, with the TBS and truTV brands removed in favor of the TNT Sports moniker.

Before the WBD deal, TNT and TBS did share branding under the Turner Sports banner with different levels of emphasis over the various years.

This rebranding comes as TNT Sports begins negotiations for NBA broadcasting rights. TNT Sports, known for hosting the NBA studio show “Inside the NBA,” is keen on retaining these rights along with ESPN.   

However, the NBA is expected to seek a substantial increase in rights payments, leaving the outcome of these negotiations uncertain with streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video expected to make a play for the rights.