Pete Thomas will take the role from 1 March

Champions League Microphone - Credit C1 Photography TNT Sports

Source: C1 Photography

TNT Sports has named Pete Thomas as its head of football, and he will start in the role from 1 March.

Pete Thomas TNT Sports

Thomas will lead on its broadcasts of the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League, FA Cup, and more, and report to Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe group SVP, content, production and business operations, Scott Young. He will also collaborate with the broadcaster’s other heads of sport on cross-promotion and other joint efforts - such as the Summer and Winter Olympics, which are shown through Eurosport.

Thomas joins from Whisper, where he had been head of sport for the past three years, and before that he spent over five years at documentary specialist Noah Media Group. He has also spent time at Sunset+Vine and ITV Sport during over two decades in the industry.

The football department had previously been run by executive producers David Moss and Sam Trusty, who had moved over from BT Sport when Warner Bros. Discovery created a joint venture with the company. Young told Broadcast Sport that both had given timelines for how long they would stay post takeover, giving TNT Sports the time for a full talent search - which ended with the appointment of Thomas.

Speaking to Broadcast Sport on his appointment, Thomas made clear that he’s, “not looking to come in and rip things up,” and is looking forward to working with a, “strong team that’s doing a superb job,” while trying to add, “something different to add to broadcasts.”

In particular, Young said that Thomas will be leading on the, “most expansive coverage ever,” of the FA Cup, once TNT’s rights kick in from next season. This may lean into the new arrival’s former work in documentaries, in addition to the live matches. TNT Sports will aim to continue to make most of its documentaries as co-productions, as it did with Buzz 16 for the recent Unbreakable documentary on the 2003 Rubgy World Cup-winning England side.

On the live side, across all football, Young hopes that Thomas will lean into the, “maverick,” side of the broadcaster, and give him the, “licence to tell the story in new ways, pushing clubs beyond their comfort zones as long as the trust is there.”