BT Sport will reportedly be relaunched under a new name that will see changes affect Everton and Liverpool fans.
A report in The Times has outlined changes that will be made by the broadcaster starting from next season. It will see the name changed from BT Sport to TNT Sports, starting from July.
This is a result of a joint venture between BT and Warner Bros Discovery. The article says that customers will not be hit with any additional charges or price increases following the name change.
BT currently have the rights to broadcast the Champions League, Europa League and European Conference and some Premier League matches. The rights for Europe’s prestigious cup competitions currently last until 2027.
However, there will be an auction for Premier League coverage starting from next year. It will involve the seasons starting from 2025-28.
The report says that there is expected to be competition for rights to Premier League coverage. DAZN are said to be keen on securing rights, while there is also Amazon Prime who currently have the rights to 20 matches a season.
It has also been stated in the article how much each broadcaster currently pays to have rights for the Premier League. Sky Sports pay £1.129bn for 128 matches a season, while BT pay £355m for 52 matches per campaign.
Andrew Georgiou, the president of Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, is quoted saying in the article: “On the next [Premier League] rights auction, this is a premium service and our intention is to remain a premium service so what that means in terms of our approach to any rights auction is to make sure we maintain that position in the market.”
