HBO Max’s programming lineup is expanding to include additional sports content. Turner Sports, a WarnerMedia subsidiary, has secured an agreement with the US Soccer Federation to broadcast matches exclusively on TNT, TBS, and HBO Max.
HBO Max will broadcast more than 20 matches for the men’s and women’s national teams each year as part of an eight-year arrangement beginning in 2023, WarnerMedia announced Tuesday. TNT and TBS, both owned by WarnerMedia, will show around half of them at the same time, while the other half will only be available on HBO Max.
As part of the deal, Turner Sports and its offshoot Bleacher Report will have exclusive rights to live coverage of the matches. In addition, Turner Sports will be the exclusive English-language home of a number of events for the US women’s and men’s national soccer teams, including World Cup qualifying, the SheBelieves Cup, and National Team friendlies, among others.
Sports programming isn’t new to HBO Max — the company signed a deal with the National Hockey League last year to bring coverage to the service — but it continues the company’s commitment to diversifying its portfolio and positions HBO Max to compete more directly with sports services like Peacock, Prime Video, and Paramount Plus. It also makes HBO Max a service for sports lovers as well as film and TV viewers, which is where it has to develop to compete with Netflix.
