Who Owns Eurosport?

Eurosport was launched in 1989 as a joint venture between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Sky Television plc, the British satellite broadcaster. The channel was created to provide a pan-European platform for sports coverage, broadcasting events from the EBU's rights portfolio across the continent. The original Eurosport was a single channel broadcasting in multiple languages via satellite.

In 1991, French broadcaster TF1 Group acquired the distressed channel and merged it with Screensport, a competing European sports network. This merger consolidated European sports broadcasting under a single brand and gave TF1 control of the network. Eurosport expanded its reach throughout the 1990s, adding Eurosport 2 in 2005 and launching Eurosport News (later rebranded) to broaden its programming portfolio.

The network built its reputation on sports that were underserved by national broadcasters. Cycling became a cornerstone of Eurosport's programming, with coverage of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a Espana, along with the UCI Mountain Bike World Series. Tennis coverage included the Australian Open and Roland-Garros. Snooker, winter sports, and motorsports rounded out the portfolio. Eurosport became the primary destination for European fans of these sports, many of whom had limited access to coverage on domestic free-to-air channels.

Discovery Communications acquired a 51% stake in Eurosport from TF1 in 2012 for approximately EUR 170 million. In 2015, Discovery purchased TF1's remaining 49% stake, taking full ownership. Under Discovery's ownership, Eurosport expanded its digital presence with the Eurosport Player streaming service and invested in production quality, opening a new headquarters in Paris in 2017.

A landmark deal came in 2015 when Discovery and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to a EUR 1.3 billion contract for European broadcast rights to the 2018 through 2024 Olympic Games. In January 2023, WBD was awarded rights to the 2026 through 2032 Olympic Games in a deal shared with the EBU, ensuring that Eurosport and TNT Sports would remain the premium Olympic broadcaster in Europe through the end of the decade.

The most significant operational change came on February 28, 2025, when WBD integrated Eurosport's channels and content into TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland. Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 ceased to exist as linear channels in those markets, with all Eurosport content, including cycling, tennis, snooker, and winter sports, moving to TNT Sports channels and the discovery+ streaming platform. The move consolidated WBD's sports offering under a single brand in the UK and Ireland. Eurosport's channels and brand remained unchanged in more than 50 other European countries and territories.

The upcoming WBD corporate separation, announced in June 2025 and expected to complete by mid-2026, will place Eurosport within Discovery Global. The new company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., Discovery Channel, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products including Discovery+ and Bleacher Report. Discovery Global will deliver content to 1.1 billion unique viewers in 68 local languages across 200 countries and territories.