BBC replaced by TNT Sports as Commonwealth Games live broadcaster

The BBC has been replaced by TNT Sports as the UK live broadcast partner of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The subscription channel outbid the BBC, which is the main partner and has provided free broadcasting for 18 consecutive games since 1954.

TNT Sports is part of Warner Bros Discovery and is best known for broadcasting UEFA Champions League matches as well as selected English Premier League fixtures.

The BBC said it was “unable to match” TNT’s offer to broadcast games to be played from 23 July to 2 August.

TNT Sports said it will show more than 600 hours of live coverage in the “reimagining” of the games, which will include 10 sports and 6 para sports.

The broadcaster said each event will be broadcast on HBO Max, which launches in the UK and Ireland in March.

Scott Young, executive vice president of Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, said the coverage would be “comprehensive, gripping and accessible”.

He added: “We are confident that our approach will celebrate the history of the Commonwealth Games and tell the new stories of the competitors with unmatched energy and excitement.”

Glasgow 2026 chief executive Phil Batty said the deal would bring more hours of sports coverage to the games “than ever before”.

He added: “This broadcast partnership secured by Commonwealth Sport reflects our shared ambition to bring coverage of the Games to new and growing audiences.”

The Commonwealth Games are classed as a protected event under the Broadcasting Act.

This allows live broadcasting on subscription television as long as some secondary broadcasts are offered to free-to-air broadcasters.

The BBC said it would continue to talk with Glasgow 2026 organizers about showing as much of the Games as possible through its platforms.

A spokesman said: “The BBC has been proud to broadcast the Commonwealth Games for many years, but our bid could not match the financial offer from the market.

“We wish them success for next year.”

Glasgow were confirmed as hosts in September last year following a deal backed by the Scottish government.

A scaled-back version of the event, featuring fewer sports and athletes, will return to the city 12 years after it last hosted the games in 2014.

The Australian state of Victoria was initially chosen to stage the multi-sport event but withdrew from hosting due to rising costs.

Australian officials have promised a “million-pound investment” to help finalize the deal.

The 23rd edition of the Games will host 3,000 athletes from 74 countries and regions between July 23 and August 2.

They will compete for 215 gold medals over 10 days and 133 sessions.

The BBC will be disappointed that it will not be showing full live TV coverage of the Commonwealth Games.

However, the real problem is not the fact that BBC Television will not broadcast live.

This has to do with the fact that the games will not be shown live in full on any of the major free-to-air TV channels.

A major sporting event on a free-to-air television channel such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4 can bring together large numbers of viewers from different backgrounds.

It is inevitable that next year’s World Cup matches between Scotland and England will attract high ratings, even late at night.

The BBC has provided wall-to-wall live coverage of every Commonwealth Games held in the UK since 1970.

While comprehensive coverage is not always possible, its relevance to the event goes back even further.

For example, in 1966 the BBC could only present highlights of the Jamaican Commonwealth Games shot at night.

But it has also helped to make the last matches played in the UK – Manchester in 2002, Glasgow in 2014 and Birmingham in 2022 – feel like special times for the host cities.

In 2014, the BBC organized a wide range of cultural events outside BBC Scotland’s Glasgow headquarters during the games.

Not only coverage of the Games but also various network programs aired in Glasgow.

These are scaled-down Commonwealth Games. Glasgow will soon be hosting these events without any public funding and organizers will want to generate as much income as possible.

Despite the organizers’ efforts to ramp up the excitement, the event feels very different this time.

From new buildings to major sports facilities to public health benefits, there is no mention of a lasting legacy left for the city.

There will still be highlights on a terrestrial TV channel, and some live broadcasts may still be possible on a major channel.

But without a full live broadcast on a channel that everyone can watch for free, will there be wider public participation or a sense that the Games are a special time for Glasgow and Scotland?