The next couple of years will change the TV landscape in the UK.
ITV is in “preliminary” discussions to sell its broadcasting business to Sky for £1.6bn.
Fierce competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ has left ITV and Sky needing to react.
Will they also find themselves competing with Netflix in the sports market?
All the indications would suggest that may well be the case, although there is scepticism of just how much ambition its executives hold here.
Netflix has previously dipped its toe in, with ‘entertainment’ boxing fights such as Mike Tyson v Jake Paul.
It was said to be in the running for the Champions League rights won by Paramount.
Netflix has secured the rights to the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups in the USA – the first time the company had bought the rights to a sports competition in full.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino hailed Netflix as “a marquee brand and Fifa’s new long-term partner”.
That was underlined on Wednesday when Fifa announced it had partnered with Netflix to produce the video game for the 2026 World Cup.
Netflix also signed up Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football podcast for next year’s men’s World Cup.
A set round of Premier League matches, like Amazon Prime used to have, would be more in keeping with the Netflix business model. Up until now at least.
Pescatore believes TNT Sports could provide “fast-track access” into the competitive sports rights arena in the UK.
“Entertainment has served a purpose for Netflix up until now, but they realise the whole notion of live programming drives viewers to tune in to that moment,” he said.
However Godard suggested: “If TNT Sports UK is part of it, they [Netflix] haven’t thought very much about it yet.”
Warner Bros Discovery is in the process of splitting the company into two parts.
Netflix recently agreed to buy the streaming and studios parts of the business, which TNT Sports in the UK is part of.
However, TNT Sports’ US business is not in the deal, creating uncertainty about Netflix’s intentions.
The press release to announce the Netflix deal made no mention of TNT Sports. All the talk was of TV behemoth HBO and the cinematic arm.
When BBC Sport spoke to Warner Bros Discovery, it would make no comment on the future of TNT Sports or confirm its role in the deal.
