What's the cheapest way to get TNT Sports?

Dan Howdle • November 17th, 2023

TNT Sports is the new name for BT Sport. It offers the same service BT Sport did, and is available in largely the same places, though you won't see Virgin Media bundling it in for free anymore.

Watching sport is expensive. Of that there can be no doubt. Both TNT Sports and Sky Sports don't come particularly cheap no matter how, or rather via which service, you choose to subscribe. But pricing does vary considerably depending on how you choose to get it. So what's the cheapest way to get it, and how convenient is that likely to be for the average customer?

TNT Sports pricing overview

It's arguable whether BT Sport succeeded or failed. Many commended it for its excellent football coverage (among other sports), and there can be no argument that BT spent an extraordinary sum to provide a direct competitor to the almighty Sky Sports. But things clearly haven't gone as well as BT might have hoped, either with its BT Sport offering, or with its TV service in general.

TNT Sports is a like-for-like service now owned by Warner Bros., Discovery Sports Europe, and with BT maintaining a share. This, along with BT's intent to to abandon the BT TV brand altogether (it's to be rebranded EE TV from 6 December 2023), signals an admission that perhaps attempting to catch up with a TV subscription service that's been around for over 30 years (Sky TV) was too big an ask.

But that's where we are: BT Sport is now TNT Sports and there are four ways to get it. Here's an at-a-glance look at all the ways to watch and how much it'll cost you:

Prices correct at the time of writing and may vary over time. See our TV package price comparison for the latest deals

Doesn't make sense? Allow us to explain

The pricing on TNT Sports is in a couple of ways completely the opposite to what most folk might expect. BT TV, which until very recently wholly owned BT Sport (now TNT Sports) is not the cheapest way to get TNT Sports. Similarly, getting TNT Sports direct from the provider (via the Discovery+ app) is the most expensive means of watching. It's nonsense at first glance.

To make sense of it, you need to understand the following:

Virgin Media used to give BT Sport away for free

Until the recent handover from BT Sport to TNT Sports, Virgin Media had a deal with BT to put all BT Sport channels in all of Virgin Media's TV packages gratis. This deal no doubt worked well for both parties, providing an incentive to sign up to Virgin TV and a larger audience for BT Sport. This deal is no longer in place, but Virgin TV appears to have been able to wangle a very good deal with TNT Sports and so offers it the cheapest of all providers.

Discovery+ offers a lot more than just TNT Sports

The Discovery+ app is how you directly sign up to TNT Sports with the company that now owns it. But, you'll get all the Discovery channels along with it, and access to a lot of exclusive Discovery content. Hence, it's the most expensive way to do it, but for many – since you can watch it on practically any device – by far the most convenient.

TNT Sports via BT TV

BT of course owned BT Sport till recently, but pricing now that it's TNT Sports hasn't changed all that much. The main thing buyers need to be aware of if getting TNT Sports via BT is the way they want to go is that, firstly, you'll need to subscribe to BT TV before you can add it on (or sign up for a bundle that includes it at the outset). And secondly – and this is the real kicker – BT TV is not available without BT Broadband. You need to subscribe to a whole broadband and TV bundle before you can even consider adding on TNT Sports.

This will be asking a lot for many, not least because most people will already have a broadband provider, and many of them will not be in a position to switch. But also because BT Broadband and TV bundles are expensive in our opinion, and come with somewhat unreasonable 24-month contract lengths.

Here's a look at the current, most popular BT TV and Broadband bundles:

TNT Sports via Virgin TV

Similarly to BT, you can't get a Virgin TV deal on its own – you have to have Virgin Media Broadband too. This is thanks to the way Virgin Media delivers digital services into your home, via high-capacity coaxial cables. Its TV box won't work without the cable, which must also have an active Virgin Media internet connection.

So, although Virgin TV is the cheapest way to get TNT Sports, it is once again quite an awkward way to get it if you're not already a Virgin Media customer, can't get Virgin Media where you live, or in the middle of a contract with another provider.

Here's a look at our current most popular Virgin TV and broadband bundles:

TNT Sports via Sky TV

There are myriad advantages to choosing Sky as your basis for adding a TNT Sports subscription. So much so, rather than waffle on for several paragraphs as to why this is by far the best way to get it, we've made a list:

• You can get Sky TV on its own: This is crucial. You can get either Sky Q (satellite TV) or Sky Stream (streaming via internet) on their own. No need for a Sky Broadband subscription in either case. This significantly reduces the cost of getting TNT Sports
• Sky Stream offers one-month contracts: If you get it on Sky Stream, you can choose the no-contract route and get out any time. Although its a few extra quid for a month, if you're not planning on watching TNT Sports outside of the football season, say, you could save even more money
• Sky TV is still the best, and cheapest way to watch Sky Sports: You wouldn't be asking the question if you didn't love sport. So chances are you probably want Sky Sports too. Things become much cheaper than alternatives at this point with Sky TV, and especially via Sky Stream

Here's a look at our current, most popular Sky TV deals:

TNT Sports via the Discovery+ app

If all you want is TNT Sports and you don't want a new TV or broadband and TV bundle just to support it, your last-ditch option is the Discovery+ app. Like other TV apps, it runs on devices you already own. What's not ideal about it is that you can't just get TNT Sports and pay less than the rather high £29.99 monthly subscription tag on the Premium plan (which is required to get TNT Sports). You have to get it bundled with a bunch of other channels which, as a sport fan, you may not want.

With Discovery+ Premium you'll have access to the following channels:

• Discovery
• TLC
• Quest
• ID
• Really
• Quest Red
• Animal Planet
• HGTV
• Food Network
• DMAX
• Discovery Science
• Discovery History
• Turbo
• Magnolia Network
• Motor Trend
• Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 (included with the Standard and Premium plan)
• TNT Sports 1, 2, 3, and 4 (included with the Premium plan)

Discovery+ app compatible devices

In order to subscribe to and watch Discovery+ (and therefore TNT Sports), you'll need to have one or more of the following devices. Note that this list is updated regularly on the Discovery+ site, so do check there if your device is particularly new, not on this list, and you're not sure.

Conclusion

It's lovely when we have an easy winner. We can spend less time talking through all the pros and cons. By far the best way to get TNT Sports is as an add-on to Sky Stream. Sky Stream is cheap, easy to sign up to, doesn't require Sky Broadband, you can opt to get it without a contract, and depending on the day and time you order you can be up and running within 24 hours.

By contrast, all other means of getting TNT Sports require some degree of buying things or subscribing to things you don't necessarily want. It's a shame that TNT Sports isn't available as a solo app, but then, its position as an add-on to popular TV bundles from BT, Virgin Media and Sky would absolutely be under threat were it to be offered that way.