UK sports fans are in for a shock this week with the hugely popular Eurosport service being shut down for good. The changes were announced earlier this year, but the deadline for the shutdown has now arrived, with things being turned off tomorrow, February 28. It's the end of an era for these channels which have been showing sporting action from across the world for over 30 years.
Some of the content shown on Eurosport -such as Tour de France races, Australian Open tennis, snooker and the Olympics - will be moved to TNT and Discovery+ instead. Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), which currently runs Eurosport and also owns TNT Sports, has yet to confirm exactly how the lineup will look and whether all content currently shown on Eurosport will be integrated into TNT's channels or if a new service will launch to accommodate the extra coverage.
"We know audiences are looking for a slightly simpler journey on where to find the sport they love," said WBD Sports Europe chief Scott Young. "This move will also continue to best deliver value for our leagues and federation partners, as we continue our 35 years plus commitment to investment and championing of sport on our screens.
"We’re building out the best sports and entertainment profile we have in this country. People can choose to make their decision as to how they want to engage with us in the short term. We are investing in cycling. "What’s more important is the ecosystem of sports content in this market, and for sports fans now to come to one destination, and not try and pick which destination they’ve got to go to.".
Although this news clearly won't please some Sky and Virgin users - who will lose two popular channels tomorrow - there is better news for those tuning into TV via Freeview. WBD says it will boost some of its sports offerings, which are available via the free-to-air Quest channel.
