BT is approaching the deal to sell the TNT Sports participation to Warner Bros Discovery

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BT is in advanced talks to sell its 50 percent share of the British broadcaster TNT Sports to the US joint venture partner Warner Bros Discovery, two people familiar with the situation.

A deal could be announced in the next week, they added when BT should publish its total annual results. However, this timing could still go depending on the progress of the negotiations, added.

After more than a decade of sports broadcasts, BT would end the move to sports transmission and conclude the multiple billions of pounds from the telecommunications company that the offer would win exclusive football games and keep existing lights.

Warner Bros Discovery has the opportunity to buy BT before the end of next year. When you complete a deal, the US media giant will give the future of sports channels that are an integral part of its business in Europe, better control over the future.

Sport will be a cornerstone of the streaming service of WBD when it starts in Great Britain next year, together with HBO series like Consequence And The white lotus. The platform – which was renamed this week in HBO Max and not only Max – will also show the new one Harry Potter Series.

BT and WBD rejected a comment.

BT entered the sports law market in 2012 and with an aggressive strategy to compete with Sky on the broadcaster’s lawn and bundled offers for television, broadband and mobile phone services.

However, the TNT channels of the rights of some exclusive football games of the Premier League have identified Wurden from BT Chief Executive Allison Kirkby as a non-Kern managing director. Since the takeover in February 2024 she has tried to realign the company on its traditional mobile and broadband offer.

TNT has long been a cash drainage for BT, since the competition with Sky and Amazon has been reinforced to secure rights for important competitions such as the Premier League. In the 2024 financial year, the company booked a loss of taxes worth 187.5 million

The joint venture is evaluated on more than 750 million GBP on the BT accounts. However, people near the talks said that the book value of the business did not reflect the deal value and that an agreement with WBD would be considerably lower than this number.

TNT Sports that has rights to show other competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, was founded after BT in 2022 summarized its sports department with the Eurosport UK Business by Warner Bros Discovery.

The company has a four-year contract with 52 Premier League live games per season until 2029 and a four-year contract with the football association to show the 2025 FA Cup.