Warner Bros. Discovery is embarking on a notable rebranding of one of its core divisions.
The company is renaming its WBD Sports division to TNT Sports, adopting the name of one of its largest cable channels (and home of the NBA) and unifying its global sports brands under one name (the company has already changed the name of its channels in the United Kingdom and Latin America). American sports channels such as TNT Sports).
The newly named TNT Sports has some of the largest sports rights outside of ESPN, including the NBA, NHL and MLB, as well as the March Madness college basketball tournament. Live games and studio shows already use the channels they air on (i.e. NBA on TNT, NHL on TNT, MLB on TBS), so the rebranding is more of a business-to-business move. company, which covers the entire spectrum of sports brands. .
Bleacher Report, Golf Digest and the owned and operated companies will operate as part of the TNT Sports family.
The new brand also comes at a critical time for the company, with NBA rights renewals imminent and Max embarking on a sports streaming push.
TNT and ESPN have an exclusive negotiating window for NBA rights early this year, and the company would like to retain the rights (it already has what is widely considered the NBA’s best studio show, Inside the NBA ). However, with the league seeking a significant increase in payouts, there is no guarantee a deal will be reached.
WBD’s Max streaming service also launched a sports tier last year (called B/R Sports, after Bleacher Report) and will make it a premium subscription add-on in a few months.
WBD streaming boss JB Perrette told THR that the company’s sports rights are sold as a premium complement in other markets and believes that the US is going in the same direction.