Why Hollywood battle could change how you watch sport

A multi-billion dollar takeover fight is being played out in Hollywood - and Premier League bosses will be watching on closely.

Netflix and Paramount Skydance are trying to buy Warner Bros Discovery, and with it titles such as Harry Potter, Barbie and Game of Thrones.

Buried within Warner Bros Discovery is TNT Sports, which provides an intriguing subplot in an acrimonious battle for some of the world's top TV shows and movies.

Whoever emerges victorious from the takeover tug-of-war will directly affect the future of sporting rights in the UK.

There is a huge amount of uncertainty about what this means for TNT Sports, the Premier League and subscribers.

Since 2012 TNT Sports, or BT Sport as it was back then, has been an aggressive player in the rights market.

It owns the Saturday lunchtime Premier League package and the FA Cup in the UK.

Rugby union, motorsport and cycling are among its other key properties, but football has been key to subscriptions.

TNT Sports helped drive up the value of Champions League TV rights, though it has lost them to Paramount from 2027.

Discovery+, the company that merged with BT Sport in 2023, also holds rights to the Olympics.

Strong and healthy competition keeps the value of sports rights high, and TNT has been key to that in recent years in the UK.

"TNT Sports is wrapped in uncertainty," Francois Godard, a media and telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis, told BBC Sport.

"Who will own Warner Bros? And who will own TNT Sports?"

BT Group still hold 50% at present. But it is working on a deal to sell its remaining share to Warner Bros Discovery. That, at least, would make a future sale more straightforward.

In that scenario, one possibility would be that TNT Sports is bought by or merged into another company as part of any takeover process.

And this is where the Netflix intrigue comes to the fore.

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.

Paramount Skydance has tried to muscle in by making a higher offer direct to Warner Bros Discovery shareholders.

The takeover would be more straightforward because the offer is for the whole of the business.

But on Wednesday Warner Bros Discovery told its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance's $108.4bn (£80.8bn) bid.

Paramount appears the more obvious bedfellow for TNT Sports.

It has already shown clear intent in the sports rights market, including football and UFC, and has Champions League rights in the US under its CBS brand. From 2027 it will own the competition in the UK, too.

Pescator says "there's been an open chequebook" at Paramount, which paid a premium for Champions League rights at more than £1bn across four years.

That kind of ambition would grab the attention of rights holders.

Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Premier Sports, Disney+ and DAZN are already players in the UK subscription market.

From 2027, add in Paramount for the Champions League - unless there are mergers before then.

Bidding will open on the next cycle of Premier League rights in the UK in 2027.

The 2025-29 deal was worth £6.7bn. Will there be a new, ambitious player?

Godard says "nobody has the economics" to challenge Sky Sports at present.

"I'm sure the Premier League would hope that the new layout of ownership will increase the appetite," Godard said.

The Premier League rights in the US, held by NBC, expire in 2028. This could provide an early indication of the intentions of Netflix and Paramount.

Pescatore suggests interest from Disney+ cannot be ruled out.

Disney+ already has the rights to the Women's Champions League across the whole of Europe and the Saturday night La Liga game in the UK.

Or could something completely different be the future?

One suggestion is the Premier League could choose to launch its own direct-to-consumer channel, dubbed "Premflix", to distribute some of the games itself.

What is clear is that viewers can expect more changes to how they watch sport.