TNT Sports, the UK pay-TV broadcaster, has renewed its media rights deal with the Matchroom-organized World Snooker Tour (WST) across the UK and Ireland for another multi-year term.
This new extension will see TNT Sports continue to cover WST action through the 2030-31 season “at least”, disseminated across both its linear channels and the HBO Max OTT streaming service.
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TNT Sports says that this expansion means it will now cover more WST events than any other broadcaster.
That includes coverage of the three annual “Triple Crown” events, the World Championship, the Masters and the UK Championship, which are the sport’s highest profile tournaments and represent the pinnacle of UK (and global) interest in the sport.
Though the Triple Crown events are free-to-air in the UK until 2032, part of a renewed agreement with the BBC public-service broadcaster struck last year, they still represent big business for TNT Sports, which is able to pull in existing subscriber interest to combat the lack of exclusivity.
Alongside live match coverage of “every frame” from the Triple Crown events, TNT will also continue its slate of ancillary content and shoulder programming throughout the season on broadcast and the network’s social media and digital channels.
Speaking on the announcement, Trojan Paillot, the vice president for rights, syndication, and commercial development at TNT Sports parent WBD Sports Europe, commented: “Snooker has been a key part of our live multi-sport portfolio for many years. Extending our long-term partnership with the World Snooker Tour reinforces our commitment to providing fans with the most complete live snooker offer available through one subscription.”
On the addition of HBO Max, which launched in the UK only this year, to the mix, Paillot added: “With the launch of HBO Max in the UK completing our rollout across Europe, coupled with our rights covering every market across the continent, we have a unified approach to supporting the growth of the sport internationally while telling local stories. We know fans are already enjoying the viewing experience on HBO Max together with TNT Sports’ comprehensive coverage and we know this approach will support the growth of the game in the UK and internationally.”
TNT Sports says that viewership hours watched for the 2026 World Snooker Championship increased 5% year-on-year compared to the previous edition on the Discovery+ platform, reflecting the strength of the new OTT offering.
The UK is snooker’s most traditional market, and remains one of its largest (despite the growing influence of China).
In all, 16 annual tournaments are covered by the deal, spanning the Triple Crown trio, the China Open, English Open, International Championship, the German Masters, the World Grand Prix, World Open, and more.
This UK extension brings the market in line with the rest of Europe, where WBD platforms also hold the rights to WST events through the 2030-31 campaign in 50 markets across the continent, showing coverage via HBO Max and the Eurosport linear pay-TV channel in an extension agreed last September.
