Our History
2023 - TNT SPORTS LAUNCHES IN THE UK
On 18 July 2023, TNT Sports launched in the UK & Ireland, presenting premium exclusive live sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The TNT Sports brand in the UK & Ireland was launched by the Joint Venture (JV) between BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed on 1 September 2022.
2022 - UCI & WBD PARTNERSHIP SIGNALS EXCITING NEW ERA FOR THE UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP
On 10 June, it was announced that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) selected Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to deliver a new vision for mountain biking which will see the leading global media and entertainment company combine all its assets and expertise to elevate the sport and reach a new global audience.
2022 – DISCOVERY AND AT&T CLOSE WARNERMEDIA TRANSACTION
On 8 April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and AT&T Inc. announced that they had closed their transaction to combine the WarnerMedia business with Discovery. The combination created a premier standalone global media and entertainment company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., which will began trading on the Nasdaq with the start of trading on Monday, April 11, under the new ticker symbol “WBD.”
2021 – UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAUNCHED
Marking a 'mind-blowing' new era in track cycling, together with its long-term partner the Union Cycliste Internationale, Discovery Sports Events officially launched the UCI Track Champions League with round one taking place in Mallorca, Spain.
2021 – DISCOVERY DELIVERS RECORD-BREAKING OLYMPIC GAMES
Discovery’s coverage of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - its first Summer Olympics - delivered new audience engagement and reach records, bringing the Games to more people across Europe than ever before. In total:
- 372 million people watched the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 across TV and digital in Europe, more than 10% more than Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018
- Over 175 million of those viewed Discovery’s coverage on TV and digital, 13 times more vs. PyeongChang 2018
- Almost 200 million additional people watched through partner broadcasters with whom Discovery agreed sublicence agreements, including 45 free-to-air national broadcasters throughout Europe.
- 1.3 billion minutes of Olympics content was consumed across Discovery’s digital platforms led by discovery+ and Eurosport subscription services - this was 21 times more minutes compared to PyeongChang 2018
2020 – DISCOVERY+ LAUNCHED TO MARKET
Discovery announced the launch of discovery+, with Europort’s unrivalled, premium and locally-relevant multi-sport offering supporting the subscription service. Today, Eurosport is proud to call itself the number one sport destination in Europe, with its two channels now reaching 246 million cumulative subscribers across 75 countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East and Eurosport.com positioned as Europe’s No 1 online sports news website with an average of 30 million unique users per month.
*TV Audience aged +3 or +4 depending on official data in each market.
2019 – MORE PEOPLE ON MORE SCREENS THAN EVER BEFORE
On February 5, 2019 Eurosport celebrated the 30th anniversary of its launch and first ever transmission.
2015 – DISCOVERY AND EUROSPORT SECURE OLYMPIC GAMES RIGHTS ACROSS EUROPE
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that all TV and multi-platform broadcast rights in Europe for the four Olympic Games in the 2018–2024 period have been awarded to Discovery Communications, the parent company of Eurosport. The announcement kicks off a long-term partnership between the biggest global sports event, the Olympic Games, and leading global media company, Discovery Communications.
2014 – EUROSPORT BECOMES PART OF DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
On May 10, 2014, Discovery Communications announced that it had completed the acquisition of the controlling interest in Eurosport International. The US-based #1 Pay-TV broadcaster was the first US media channel to launch channels in Europe in 1989 and has invested steadily and significantly in its international business for 25 years.
2008 – EUROSPORT PLAYER LAUNCHED ACROSS EUROPE
The Eurosport Player was launched in 2008 and offers live streaming of Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, as well as on-demand programming, on PC and Mac.
2007 – EUROSPORT EVENTS CREATED
2007 saw the launch of Eurosport Events, a specialist division of Eurosport, which handles the organisation, management and promotion of key international sporting events including TV production, media rights, distribution and sale of marketing rights. Since its creation, Eurosport Events has been involved in the delivery of key global motorsports series such as the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the European Rally Championship, and the FIM Endurance World Series. Eurosport Events also works with partners from the world of equestrian sports.
2005 – EUROSPORT 2 LAUNCHED
On January 10, 2005, Eurosport launched Eurosport 2, an additional channel of live programming of events. Broadcasting Handball Champions League, Australian Rules Football, surfing, volleyball and basketball, Eurosport 2 was developed to sit alongside and complement the existing channel and looked to deliver a wider choice to sports fans while reaching a younger audience. The offering was made available across 35 countries and in four languages – English, Polish, Turkish and Greek.
1999 – EUROSPORT.COM GOES LIVE
Eurosport.com, a bespoke pan-European digital website launched in 1999, offering sport fans the very latest in news, views and results, as well as live coverage and highlights from key sporting events around the world. Developed to become part of sports’ fans daily media consumption, Eurosport.com has continued to evolve to become Europe’s number one online sports destination.
1989 – EUROSPORT LAUNCHES ON SKY TELEVISION
February 5, 1989, following a collaboration with the European Broadcast Union, the Eurosport channel was launched on Sky Television featuring a wide variety of sports content with commentaries in English, Dutch and German. During its first month on air, the channel broadcast key live sporting events such as the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, World Matchplay Snooker, the World Bobsleigh Championships and the European Figure Skating Championships.