Discovery Sports has announced that BT Sport, the exclusive MotoGP broadcaster for the UK, will no longer exist after July 2023, as part of a rebranding process as part no Warner Bros. Discovery’s joint venture with BT Group, of which BT Sport is a part.
The news was announced in a press release issued on Monday 21 February 2023, and precedes the beginning of the 2023 MotoGP season - for which BT Sport is the exclusive TV broadcaster for the UK - by just over one month.
BT Sport’s new name will be TNT Sports from July 2023 which “represents the start of a new journey and relationship with sports fans in the UK & Ireland,” according to the Warner Bros. Discovery press release.
Additionally, the rebrand is a part of a unification of Eurosport and what will become TNT Sports “under a single offer in the future.”
What this essentially means is that Eurosport and TNT Sports will be offered under one subscription and together in one place, Discovery+ (as well as on regular Sky TV, for example), which in turn means that only one subscription will be required to watch MotoGP, BSB, and WorldSBK.
The timing, however, is ignorant of motorcycle racing, and (perhaps understandably from their side) instead it has focused on the transition between football seasons. Unfortunately for motorcycle racing fans, this means a mid-season switch. In July, when that switch is set to happen, there is one MotoGP race scheduled, in Kazakhstan; two WorldSBK races, in the UK and in the Czech Republic; and two BSB races, in Snetterton and in Brands Hatch.
It is plausible that bike racing fans would be forced to pay inflated prices to watch those two-wheeled series as a result of the subscription including Premier League football, for which BT Sport is also a broadcast rights holder, but there is currently no information on the cost of the subscription. For reference, the only way to get sports on Discovery+ at the moment is to subscribe to the “Entertainment and Sport” option, which costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 for an annual subscription.
