It’s the end of an era for one veteran broadcaster as Eurosport is set to switch off all its current channels after shutting down UK operations.
The veteran sports channel has been available on tellies in Britain for over 35 years but not for much longer as the European broadcaster – headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) – is set for a key restructure.
Known for showing everything from football, tennis, snooker and rugby, to cycling, touring cars; motorcycle racing, MMA and more, it’s provided some of the most well-rounded sports coverage on the planet for a generation and then some.
It’ll feel weird not seeing it on the TV guide anymore but fear not, because their programming isn’t disappearing completely – here’s why…
Sorry to see Eurosport will be no more in our part of the world from next month. Been watching since the early 90s and they did so much so well, including tons of football, athletics, tennis and winter sports that couldn’t be seen anywhere else. It was invaluable. pic.twitter.com/8iBieQ6aJ6
Although Eurosport is set to shut down next month, their existing coverage will be moving over to TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland.
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Given that they’re also part of Warner Bros.’ global Discovery arm, TNT’s wide range of sports offerings just keeps getting bigger and better, having landed more and more Premier League fixtures, as well an increased number of European football and rugby fixtures, not to mention some major boxing matches.
While TNT used to have the Formula 1 too back when it was still BT Sport, they’ve also boasted exclusive MotoGP coverage since 2014, having the British Superbikes and World Superbike Championship also follow suit and join one big homogeneous roster does make sense.
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However, it’s safe to say the decision hasn’t proved popular with everyone, mainly because of the uplift UK viewers will now have to shell out if they want to access the same content they were paying just £7 a month for.
As many long-standing Eurosport viewers were paying what was generally considered a reasonable fee to enjoy a handful of their sports, if they want to continue accessing those chosen favourites they will now have to pay more than four times the price for the privilege.
For decades, Eurosport has been providing a great service for fans of minority sports. And it was affordable. Now these Americans are closing it and hiding everything behind a much higher paywall. From £3.99/month to £30.99/month, an increase of 777%. Brilliant. pic.twitter.com/YVCVvjR37J
So, while Eurosport as we know it might be bidding farewell to one of its biggest and most loyal audiences, it isn’t gone forever for the brand and, to the truth, it isn’t really a goodbye as such – at least not for everyone.
The big question is, will you be one of those willing to pay for a new subscription in order to carry on watching watch Eurosport delivered for so many years?
Featured Images — Eurosport/TNT Sports
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KSI reveals the names who turned him down before booking Misfits fight in Manchester
Danny Jones
Social media star turned musician and boxer KSI has revealed a laundry list of names he wanted to fight instead of his upcoming opponent at the latest Misfits Boxing match in Manchester.
KSI’s next bout against mixed martial artist and multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion Dillon Danis was officially booked at the start of this month, with the fight just a little over a month and a half away.
The advent of celebrity/influencer boxing isn’t going anywhere – if anything it’s only getting more and more popular as time goes on – and the clamour for the recent Misfits franchise here in the UK is only further proof of that.
However, the promotion doesn’t have all of the pulling power it would hope to at present, as KSI revealed that he didn’t get his first choice of fighter when it came to picking an opponent – in fact, he claims Dillon Danis was actually his fifth choice overall.
KSI reveals all the opponents that declined to fight him in March and why he ended up fighting Dillon Danis 😳
As you can see in the clip above, taken from his most recent YouTube upload in which he discussed fellow celebrity boxer and influencer Jake Paul‘s potential fight against Canelo Alvarez was called off, the 31-year-old insisted that Danis was a backup.
“You guys always say that my opponents have been terrible but how many people pull out? I don’t think you understand how many people pull out of fighting me”, he began.
“Even with this fight, I know I’m not even allowed to say it but f*** it. Dillon Danis wasn’t even my fourth choice. We went to Nate Diaz, he said no; we went to Donald Cerrone, he said no; We went to Tony Ferguson: he said no. These guys said no to me.
“Even [Jorge] Masvidal [said no] – we went to Masvidal to fight. He can’t do it because of the UFC. Guys, we’ve been trying to find people to fight.”
Is this just some early and casual form of trash-talking from KSI? Maybe, but we know lots of these big conversations happen as proven by the younger Paul brother’s fight against Mike Tyson actually coming to fruition late last year.
There were talks for a rematch against Tommy Fury too.Dillon Danis during his weigh-in against Logan Paul.KSI is set to fight Dillon Danis in Manchester next month. (Credit: The Manc Group/Ghazi Twaissi via Wikimedia Commons)
Even bringing up the discussion of a potential match-up against Darren Till following his fight against Tommy Fury falling through, he said that the Liverpool-born MMA and former Muay Thai fighter likely wouldn’t be willing to meet the ‘rehydration clause’, which essentially restricts a fighter’s weight limit.
So, for now, Danis it will have to be.
General admission for KSI vs Dillon Danis on 29 March and will be streamed live on the DAZN app and platform – will you be tuning in at home?
You can watch his full video speaking ahead of the fight HERE and grab your tickets down below:
KSI VS DILLON DANIS: UNFINISHED BUSINESS‼️ TICKETS NOW ON SALE‼️
Featured Images — KSI (screenshot via YouTube)/Press Shot (supplied via AO Arena)
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Noel Gallagher says he had to ‘switch off’ Kendrick Lamar’s ‘nonsense’ Super Bowl performance
Danny Jones
Noel Gallagher has revealed he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Kendrick Lamar Halftime Show at this year’s Super Bowl.
In case you’ve been living under a giant American football-shaped rock over the last few days, US rapper Kendrick Lamar enjoyed a much bigger second bite at what was already a bit of a ‘break-the-internet’ moment this past Sunday.
Having been chosen to headline Super Bowl LIX, the 37-year-old’s provocative performance during the Halftime Show had plenty of political messaging and made one VERY big and not-so-subtle statement about fellow feuding rapper Drake, sending those watching and reacting on social media into a frenzy.
That being said, despite being the most-watched Halftime Show in the event’s history, not everyone was so keen on it and one of those people, it turns out, was Manchester’s very own Noel Gallagher.
Noel perfrming at Wythenshawe Park.Kendrick’s Super Bowl meme sent round the world.
Speaking on to talkSPORT ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League game against Real Madrid on Tuesday night (which didn’t exactly go to plan…), the Oasis singer, songwriter and lead guitarist was asked if he was a fan of the Super Bowl, to which he revealed he’s been watching the NFL for some time.
With host Andy Goldstein then searching for his opinion on Kendrick and the Halftime Show, Noel began by saying, simply: “I had to switch it off…
“It was absolute nonsense”, said Gallagher, admitting that while he refused to watch all of it, he was initially confused by “like 300 people getting out of a car for the first two minutes.”
He went on to add that it wasn’t necessarily a personal thing against the hip-hop star that he just doesn’t usually rate “the halftime nonsense”, claiming that “it’s usually artists I don’t like.” When asked about his favourite past Super Bowl Halftime performances.
Truth be told, he said he never typically watches it anyway, insisting that he’s “not interested” in the over-the-top spectacle that $10-20 million and often comes under criticism for its artist selection.
We’d like to imagine a world where the older Gallagher brother and ‘King Kenny’ have nothing but mutual respect and admiration for their respective music careers but it’s fair to say he isn’t keen on the Halftime Show shenanigans.
Don’t hold your breath for a surprise Oasis appearance at next year’s Super Bowl.
You can watch Kendrick Lamar’s performance in full HERE or to see it broken down in more detail, check out the video down below: