The 2025 French Open final between winner Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner attracted a record UK viewership on TNT Sports.
The five-and-a-half hour grand slam final was the longest in Roland Garros history, with TNT Sports revealing it attracted more than one million viewers as Alcaraz bested Sinner in his fifth-set tie-break victory.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) made the decision in February to cease operations of its UK-facing Eurosport division to focus its coverage in the UK on TNT Sports through an integration. Eurosport had broadcasted the French Open for the last 35 years due to WBD owning the rights for the competition.
The reception for the Alcaraz-Sinner final will have buoyed executives at WBD and TNT Sports after it retained broadcast rights for the French Open for the next five years until 2030.
With the retirements of all-time greats such as Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray in recent years, the emergence of Sinner and Alcaraz as the world number one and two respectively look set to bring forth a new generational tennis rivalry and in turn, a new generation of fans.
Speaking on the French Open broadcast rights extension, Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director, WBD Sports Europe, said: “We are delighted that we will continue to deliver live coverage of an event that engages and resonates with millions of viewers across Europe.
“There are not many partnerships in sport that span more than 40 years but, with this deal, we are proud to achieve that milestone and would like to thank the French Tennis Federation for their lasting trust and support for what we do to share the great stories of Roland-Garros with millions of fans each and every year.”
More moving parts from WBD
After integrating Eurosport into TNT Sports in the UK, WBD has made further restructuring efforts to its broadcast channels, this time in the US.
The US conglomerate confirmed on June 10 that it will divide the company into two separate entities. This will see TNT Sports, alongside Discovery and CNN, grouped into the ‘Global Networks’, whereas HBO MAX and other television/film networks will be under the group name ‘Streaming & Studios’.
WBD President David Zaslav explained the company split as a way to ‘empower these iconic brands’ with a “sharper focus and strategic flexibility”.
While WBD views this a way to place a greater focus on developing its sports portfolio, TNT Sports recently lost broadcast rights for the NBA, which it held for the last 30 years. Without NBA content for the next 11 years, TNT loses a lionshare of its audience.
Despite losing NBA rights, TNT Sports still holds rights for the French Open, Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL) and NCAA men’s March Madness basketball.
