Sky Sports: What to know before purchasing a subscription

Sky Sports has been arguably the leader of sports TV subscription services for over 30 years. While it may have gotten its start showing Premier League football in the early 90s, a Sky Sports subscription now extends to anything from darts to Formula One to golf, and much more.

As you’ll discover, there’s not just football on Sky, and this sports TV subscription service features a lot of great content for sports fanatics.

What can I watch on Sky Sports?

In total there are 11 channels found within a Sky Sports subscription. The sports featured include:

  • English Premier League football
  • F1
  • Golf
  • Cricket
  • Rugby
  • Darts
  • Betfred Super League
  • Scottish Premiership
  • NFL
  • NBA
  • Boxing

Sky Sports Main Event

Here is where you’ll find only the most popular and major live events found on Sky Sports. It could be anything from a big Premier League game such as Liverpool vs. Manchester United, Day One of The Ashes cricket, or even a pivotal Formula race to determine the championship.

Sky Sports Premier League

If the Premier League is your favourite sport, then you’ll be able to watch hundreds of live matches – as well as replays – of all the major teams. No other sports subscription service offers as many Premier League games as Sky, and you’ll also find exclusive behind-the-scenes documentaries and interviews with players.

Sky Sports Football

Even though BT Sport has the rights to the Champions League, you’ll still be able to catch a lot of football action on this channel. You’ll find the games from the EFL Cup (or known as the Carabao Cup), the English Football League, and the Scottish League.

Sky Sports Cricket

Cricket fans will be happy to know that they can watch The Ashes, The Hundred, Indian Premier League, ICC T20 World Cup, and many English county and international matches.

Sky Sports Golf

You can check out the European Tour, PGA Tour, Masters, US Open, UK Open, Ryder Cup, and the Solheim Cup with the Sky Sports Golf channel.

Sky Sports F1

Sky has a fantastic selection of Formula One races for Grand Prix fans. You’ll not only get live and replayed coverage of every Grand Prix, but also practice sessions and qualifying. 

Sky Sports Action

Formerly called Sky Sports NFL, here you can find a channel showing the biggest games in the NFL calendar from September to the Super Bowl in February.

Sky Sports Arena

There’s an interesting mix of sports found on the Arena channel. Big boxing fights from Las Vegas and New York are shown here, but also darts, rugby (Union and League), and the NBA regular season and playoffs.

Sky Sports Racing

This channel is devoted to the UK’s live horse racing, but also a good amount of international races from the USA and Australia.

Sky Sports Mix

Mix is perhaps similar to the Main Event channel, but more for sports highlights and a few live games that don’t belong on any other spot.

Sky Sports News

Finally, Sky Sports News simply gives you 24-hour coverage of all the hottest and latest news topics in the sports world.

Sky Sports Deals

This is where things get a little tricky, as there are a few deals and packages to consider for watching Sky Sports.

First off, you’ll need a Sky Q or Sky+ package in order to add Sky Sports to your already-existing deal.

For £18 extra a month, you can get the 2 for 1 Football Channel offer, where you’ll get the Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Premier League channels.

For £25 extra a month, you can get the Complete Sky Sports offer, with all 11 channels including Premier League, F1, golf, and every other sport on Sky.

If you’re completely new to Sky, then there is an offer of £44 a month for the first 18 months (plus £20 set-up fee), which gives you all the regular action and drama TV shows and the Sky Sports package.

What devices is Sky Sports available on?

Thankfully, there are many ways you can watchfootball on Sky and all your other favourite sports:

  • Amazon Fire TV Stick
  • Roku
  • LG Smart TVs
  • Samsung Smart TVs (only models from 2015 onward)
  • Youview
  • Apple TV (First, second, and third models not supported)
  • Sony Android TV
  • Chromecast
  • NOW Smart Stick
  • TalkTalk TV box
  • Sony PS5 & PS4
  • Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
  • iOS devices (version 11.2 and higher)
  • Android devices (version 5 and higher)
  • Windows PC
  • Mac OS

Can I subscribe if I’m not a Sky TV customer?

Yes, you can! Several ways are worth mentioning if you’re not a Sky TV customer and don’t wish to become one.

Virgin Media

For anyone with Virgin Media, you can get M100 Fibre broadband, nearly 200 extra TV channels, and of course, Sky Sports, all for £72 a month for 18 months.

BT Sport

Can’t decide between BT Sport and Sky Sports? Well, how about both? The Big Sport package with BT Sport for £41 a month for a 24-month contract allows you access to everything from Sky Sports and BT. This means you can watch Premier League football and Champions League!

NOW TV

Even though it is technically owned by Sky, NOW TV is a little bit different. You can get access to all 11 channels on Sky Sports, but with much more freedom with regard to your contract. You can opt for a monthly contract but also cancel anytime.

For £25 a month for 12 months, you can get all sports offered by Sky Sports, but there’s also the £11.99 one-off option for 24 hours.

Alternatives to Sky Sports

The biggest alternative to Sky Sports is undoubtedly BT Sport, which features several live Premier League matches, as well as Champions League games, boxing, cricket, MotoGP, Aussie Rules football, WWE, and baseball.