V Sport is a group of
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
sports channel
Sports channels are television speciality channels (usually available exclusively through cable and satellite) broadcast sporting events, usually live, and when not broadcasting events, sports news and other related programming.
The first sport ...
s owned by
Viaplay Group
Viaplay Group AB, formerly known as Nordic Entertainment Group AB (NENT Group), is a Swedish media and entertainment company headquartered in Stockholm.
The company operates the namesake video streaming services Viaplay and Viafree, advertising ...
, broadcasting from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and constituting a part of the pan-Nordic
V Sport
V Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic countries, owned by Nordic Entertainment Group. The brand has been introduced in June 2020, replacing the former brands Viasat Sport and Viasport (Norway only). Its main c ...
offering. The Swedish
V Sport
V Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic countries, owned by Nordic Entertainment Group. The brand has been introduced in June 2020, replacing the former brands Viasat Sport and Viasport (Norway only). Its main c ...
channels except
V Sport Motor
V Sport Motor is a Swedish motorsport channel that launched on 17 October 2008.
Events broadcast on the channel include Formula One, NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanct ...
and
V Sport Extra
V Sport Extra is a television channel owned by Viaplay Group
Viaplay Group AB, formerly known as Nordic Entertainment Group AB (NENT Group), is a Swedish media and entertainment company headquartered in Stockholm.
The company operates the nam ...
are also distributed in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
History
The channel was launched in 1999 as a pan-Scandinavian channel. It was launched to make use of the many sports rights in the MTG portfolio that weren't shown on TV3 and therefore were unused.
In January 2002, Viasat Sport Denmark (later replaced by
TV 2 Sport) was launched and the original version would now target Sweden and Norway. This continued until
SportN
Viasat Sport N ("N" as in "Norway") was the name of a former sports channel which broadcast to Norway. The channel launched on 29 November 2005, as a replacement for the then pan-Nordic Viasat Sport 1 channel in Norway.
The channel was a joint v ...
for Norway launched in 2005. When Viasat launched two new sports channels in 2004,
Viasat Sport 2
Viasat Sport 2 was a Scandinavian soccer channel. The channel started February 1, 2004 together with Viasat Sport 3. Viasat Sport 2 has the rights to Manchester United TV and Chelsea TV. Viasat Sport 2 also shows the UEFA Champions League, the ...
and
Viasat Sport 3
Viasat Sport 3 was a Scandinavian sports channel mainly showing basketball, combat sports, auto racing and American football. The channel started on 1 February 2004 together with Viasat Sport 2. The main sports in the summer are NASCAR, Indy Racin ...
, the first channel got the name "Viasat Sport 1".
In March 2008, Viasat received a licence to broadcast Viasat Sport 1 in the terrestrial network. As of August 2009, the terrestrial broadcasts were yet to begin since the infrastructure to broadcast the new channels hadn't been put in place.
On October 17, 2008, Viasat relaunched their sports channels in Sweden, Norway and Finland. This meant that Viasat Sport 1 reverted to its old name Viasat Sport. Most soccer-related programmes were moved to
Viasat Fotboll
V Sport Football is a Swedish television channel dedicated to football.
The channel was launched on October 17, 2008, and became the primary home to most of Viasat's football broadcasts, which at the time included ''UEFA Champions League'', the ' ...
. Contact sports programmes that were formerly on Viasat Sport 3 was moved to Viasat Sport.
The launch of
Viasat Hockey
V Sport Hockey is a sports channel that is broadcasting from the United Kingdom, primarily targeting Sweden but also available in Finland and Norway. Broadcasting was commenced on 1 September 2009, at the start of the 2009 ice hockey season. Th ...
on September 1, 2009, meant that most hockey broadcasts were moved to a separate channel, including the
Ice Hockey World Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...
,
HockeyAllsvenskan
HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system (after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL). Since the 2009–10 ...
, the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
and
KHL
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...
. Sports remaining on Viasat Sport are
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
and
contact sports
Contact sports are sports that emphasize or require physical contact between players. Some sports, such as mixed martial arts, are scored on impacting an opponent, while others, including rugby football, gridiron football and Australian rules foot ...
.
Viasat acquired the rights of football's English
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
in April 2010 and announced, that they will create a new channel for the league. It was launched on August 13, 2010, and it is called Viasat Premier League HD.
On September 7, 2010, MTG launched the new free-to-air sports channel
TV10. The purpose was to take over much the sports previously broadcast on Viasat Sport, TV6 and TV8. Viasat Sport would remain, but should become an overflow channel for the other sports channels.
Basketsverige.se - Svenska Basketligan i Viasats nya gratiskanal nästa säsong
/ref>
In 2020, all Viasat-branded channels owned by Nordic Entertainment Group
Viaplay Group AB, formerly known as Nordic Entertainment Group AB (NENT Group), is a Swedish media and entertainment company headquartered in Stockholm.
The company operates the namesake video streaming services Viaplay and Viafree, advertising ...
have been renamed ''V'', with Viasat Sport being renamed to V Sport accordingly.
V Sport Premium
V Sport Premium is a high definition channel, that broadcasts only Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
football in high definition. It broadcasts Premier League-related magazines, studio programs, live, delayed and classic matches every day around the clock in English and Swedish. The channel was created, when Viasat acquired the Premier League rights in Sweden, other Scandinavian countries and the Baltics in spring 2010. It was also planned to start broadcasts in Norway and Denmark, but Viasat resold the rights to both countries TV2 channels, which created their own versions of Premier League HD (which are actually kept on the air by Viasat).
V Sport Football
V Sport Football is a channel broadcasting only football. The origins of the channel are as far away as the year 2004, when Viasat launched Northern Europe's first football channel, Viasat Sport 2
Viasat Sport 2 was a Scandinavian soccer channel. The channel started February 1, 2004 together with Viasat Sport 3. Viasat Sport 2 has the rights to Manchester United TV and Chelsea TV. Viasat Sport 2 also shows the UEFA Champions League, the ...
. De facto, the channel still exists today, but with different programming and the name Viasat Fotboll, which has been the channel's on-the-air name since October 2008.
The channel was launched after a series of hired football experts, like Glenn Strömberg
Glenn Peter Strömberg (; born 5 January 1960) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in 1979, he won the 1981–82 UEFA Cup with IFK Göteborg before moving on to represent Benfica and Atalan ...
, Ola Wenström and Ola Andersson. The head of Viasat Sport channels, Per Tellander explained, that a pay channel was necessary to finance those hirings. The launch brought mixed reactions on the various forums on the Internet. Some felt that an effort was necessary, while others were annoyed at the fact, that the Champions League was moved from a free-to-air channel TV6 and existing customers had a large increase in subscription prices.
Shortly after the launch, the channel began to show a program called ''Avspark'' (literally translated to ''Kick-off'') with Ola Wenström and Bosse Pettersson. The program showed highlights from Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...
mixed with interviews of current Allsvenskan personalities in the studio. The program was on-the-air only for a year between late October 2008 and early November 2009, then the channel heads decided not to continue the program for the next season.
The channel is available in Sweden and Finland.
V Sport Motor
V Sport Motor broadcasts motorsports. The broadcasts include series, like MotoGP, STCC, WRC and Formula 1, which the channel has made heavy investments to. In most of the race weekends, experts Frida Nordstrand, Eje Elgh and Stefan Johansson are on track, supplemented by a studio in Stockholm led by Janne Blomqvist, who is also the commentator of the race along with Elgh. During other weekends, only Elgh is in the place. The channel has also run a news magazine dedicated to motorsport (particularly F1) since 2009 together with Sportbladet.
The channel also launched a major investment in MotoGP, which includes live broadcasts of all three classes (125, Moto2 and MotoGP). Other broadcasts include the Swedish Touring Car Championship, NASCAR and F1 Powerboat.
V Sport Hockey
V Sport Hockey is a channel dedicated to ice hockey broadcasts.
The channel's broadcasts are focusing on NHL, KHL, HockeyAllsvenskan and the Ice Hockey World Championships and it broadcasts over 300 games per season from these leagues. The channel was announced to the public on May 7, 2009, during the year's Hockey World Championships.
V Sport Golf
V Sport Golf's broadcasts consist exclusively of golf. Its rights include tours such as PGA and LPGA tours, Ryder Cup and the WGC. The Swedish broadcasts are mainly commentated by Göran Zachrisson.
The channel has arisen some controversy, when viewers were upset of being forced to buy the channel, because some of them (Lübker Golf Resort) thought, they already paid for golf broadcasts, when buying the Viasat Sport package.
Programming rights in Sweden
Football
* UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
* Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
* England national team
* English FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
* French Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
* Germany national team
* German DFB Cup
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesl ...
* Sweden national team
* German Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
Ice hockey
* IIHF World Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...
* European Trophy
European Trophy (previously named ''Nordic Trophy'' between 2006 and 2009) was an annually held ice hockey tournament, traditionally composed of teams from the higher-level ice hockey leagues in countries across Europe. With 32 participating teams ...
* Champions Hockey League
The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe.
Backgrou ...
(if organised)
* National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
* Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...
* Latvian Hockey League
The Latvian Hockey Higher League ( lv, Latvijas Virslīgas hokeja čempionāts), also known as the Optibet Hockey League ( lv, Optibet hokeja līga) since 2017 due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier Sports league, lea ...
Motorsports
* Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
* Formula 2
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...
* Formula 3
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...
* Porsche Supercup
The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...
* MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...
* Superbike
A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...
* NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
* STCC
* F1 Powerboat World Championship
The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) and promoted by H2O Racing, hence it often being referred to as F1H2O. ...
Golf
* LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
* PGA European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
* Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
* Women's major championships
* Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe.
History
The ...
* Champions Tour
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...
Other sports
* Euroleague of basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
* NFL of American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
* K-1 Grand Prix
''K-1 Grand Prix'', known in Japan as ''Fighting Illusion: K-1 Grand Prix '98'', is a video game based on the K-1 martial arts organization in Hong Kong and the K-1 World Grand Prix, developed by Daft and published by Xing Entertainment in Japan ...
of mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
References
External links
Viasat Sport (in Swedish)
{{Television in Sweden
Television channels in Sweden
V Sport
Television channels and stations established in 1999
Television channel articles with incorrect naming style
1999 establishments in Sweden