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Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1991, and has sometimes played a large role inducing organisational changes in the sports it broadcasts, most notably when it encouraged the Premier League to break away from the Football League in 1992. Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League, Football, Cricket, Golf, F1, Action and Arena are available as a premium package on top of the basic Sky package. These services are also available as premium channels on nearly every satellite, cable and IPTV broadcasting system in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Racing and Sky Sports Mix are all provided as part of basic packages. The Sky Sports network is managed by Jonathan Licht.


History


1989–1991: Predecessors

British Satellite Broadcasting operated The Sports Channel, which launched on 27 March 1990. In the BSB years, it shared the same frequency with its underpromoted sister station,
The Computer Channel .tv (formerly The Computer Channel, pronounced as Dot TV and referred to on-screen as .tv - the technology channel) was a British television channel dedicated to technology. .tv was owned and operated by British Sky Broadcasting. The channel fi ...
, which broadcast in the early mornings when it was off-air. That same year (2 November), BSB merged with Sky Television to form British Sky Broadcasting. In 1989, Sky Television had co-founded another sports network, Eurosport, with the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
. However, in 1991, Eurosport was the subject of a complaint by the competitor Screensport, who argued the effect of restricting and distorting competition in the sports market and Sky pulled out of the venture. Also in the same year, it was sold to the
TF1 Group TF1 Group (french: Groupe TF1) is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987. It is controlled with a 43% stake by Bouygues, and is quoted ...
and merged with Screensport two years later.


1991–1998: Beginnings

The Sports Channel was renamed Sky Sports on 20 April 1991 and began broadcasting to Sky viewers via the newly launched Astra 1B satellite on that date, alongside its existing transmissions on BSB's Marcopolo satellite. The channel was sold as one of the major draws of the Sky system and initially aired sports such as
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
and golf before acquiring rights to
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and
Italian league The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...
football (both previously carried over from the Sports Channel). The channel was initially encrypted but broadcast free-to-view requiring an analogue VideoCrypt decoder, but no paid subscription to be viewed. Since VideoCrypt decoders were only officially available within the United Kingdom, this measure was intended to prevent viewing of the service outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, it was following the formation of the Premier League for the 1992/93 football season, believed to have been assisted by the promise of higher television payments that Sky Sports became well known. By bidding £304 million, BSkyB beat the BBC and
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
to acquire the live and exclusive Premier League
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
broadcasting rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland for a five-year period. In doing so, they had taken live top-flight English league football from terrestrial and free-to-air television for the first time ever. At this point from 1 September 1992, Sky Sports became a monthly subscription channel and was sold either on a standalone basis, or at a reduced price if taken with Sky's movie channels. On 19 August 1994, a secondary channel called Sky Sports 2 was launched often used at weekends. On 1 November 1995, Sky launched a classic sports service called Sky Sports Gold, however it was ceased broadcasting after only a year on the air. On 16 August 1996, Sky launched Sky Sports 3 as the original channel was renamed to Sky Sports 1, they also acquired the rights to Scottish football and the League Cup. On 1 September 1997, Sky Sports 2 became a full-time service.


1998–2017: Digital era

With the launch of the Sky Digital satellite platform on 1 October 1998, Sky Sports launched Sky Sports News, a channel carrying rolling sports news coverage, followed by Sky Sports Xtra (later branded as Sky Sports 4 since 2010, then Sky Sports Golf since 2017) in August 1999. During a Premier League match between
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
on 22 August 1999, Sky Sports launched an interactive television service known as Sky Sports Active via the digital platform, allowing viewers to watch matches with access to additional on-screen statistics, and a choice of alternate camera angles and replays. Sky also expected to extend the interactive services to other sports for the following year. On 25 January 2011, Sky Sports' Premier League football coverage was at the centre of controversy when footage emerged of long serving presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys making comments perceived as sexist where Gray was sacked over the comments, and fellow reporter Andy Burton was suspended by Sky due to his involvement in the sexist comments made about a female assistant referee
Sian Massey Sian Louise Massey-Ellis MBE (née Massey; born 5 October 1985) is an English football match official who officiates generally in the role of assistant referee in the Premier League and the Football League. She has also been appointed to mat ...
, which also involved Gray and Keys. However, unlike Gray and Keys, Burton later returned to his regular duties at Sky. On 29 July 2011, it was announced that Sky Sports had acquired rights to Formula One racing from 2012 through 2018, with the BBC to share free-to-air rights to roughly half of the events and have highlights rights for the remainder. Sky subsequently announced that it would introduce a new channel dedicated specifically to its coverage, Sky Sports F1, which would air practices, qualifying and advert-free coverage of each race; the service was made available at no extra charge to all Sky high-definition subscribers, regardless of whether they were a Sky Sports subscriber. Sky extended its contract from 2016 to last through 2024; beginning in 2019, Sky became the exclusive broadcaster of all F1 races excluding the British GP which will also be broadcast on the free-to-air Channel 4 (who also hold rights for all the highlights races). On 12 August 2014, Sky launched a new channel called Sky Sports 5, which would be dedicated primarily to European football, including UEFA European Championship qualifiers, La Liga, Eredivisie and others. On 24 August 2016, Sky launched Sky Sports Mix, a new channel designed to offer a sampling of content from the full range of Sky Sports networks to those who are not subscribers. On Sky, the channel is included as a basic service with all plans, and was also available on certain Virgin Media packages on-launch.


2017–present: Channel re-alignment and expansion

On 18 July 2017, Sky re-aligned its sports channels, dropping the numbered services in favour of dedicated services devoted to their core sports properties including cricket, Formula One, golf, and two football channels (with one specifically dedicated to the Premier League), and three channels dedicated to general sports coverage. In addition, Sky announced that it would revise the pricing structure of the channels to make them more attractive to viewers; Sky customers can purchase up to three of the channels on an '' a la carte'' basis, or the entire bundle. As before, Sky Sports Mix airs selected programming from across the channels, and is included in Sky's basic service. On Sky's Now TV service, the entire Sky Sports service continues to be available through the timed pass system. The availability and packaging of the new service varies on other providers. The American
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
division became a sibling of Sky Sports following
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
's acquisition of Sky plc. On 29 January 2019, Sky and sister American pay television network
NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...
partnered on coverage of the
transfer deadline A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...
( NBC holds the Premier League rights in America), and the network later announced that it would add an hour-long simulcast of the Sky Sports News channel to its weekday morning lineup beginning 4 March. For the PGA Tour's
2019 Players Championship The 2019 Players Championship was the 46th The Players Championship, Players Championship and was played March 14–17 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was the 38th edition held at the Stadium Course and the first in March in 20 ...
, Sky Sports Golf trialled similar synergies with its new sister Golf Channel. For the 2019–20 season, NBC began more extensive on-air integration of Sky Sports resources into its American coverage of the Premier League, including adding Sky's studio programmes to its "Premier League Pass" subscription service, adoption of on-air presentation reminiscent of Sky, and originating coverage from Sky's studio during the opening weekend.


Channels

Eleven main channels comprise the Sky Sports service: In addition to Sky Sports Main Event, BT TV customers receive a channel named Sky Sports Extra which broadcasts Premier League games that are not shown on Main Event.


Temporary services

Sky occasionally gives one of their channels a temporary rebrand to coincide with a sports event. Examples of this include: * Sky Sports Ashes: To coincide with the
2013 Ashes series The 2013 Ashes series (known as the Investec 2013 Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches contested between England and Australia for the Ashes. It formed part of the 2013 Australian tour of England, which als ...
, Sky Sports 2 was renamed as Sky Sports Ashes on 30 June until 31 August 2013. As well as covering the Ashes, the dedicated cricket channel also featured the Women's Ashes, domestic cricket, various magazine and review shows. The practice was repeated for the
2015 Ashes series The 2015 Ashes series (named Investec Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes. The venues were Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Lord's (London), Edgbaston (Birmingham ...
and also for the
2019 Ashes series The 2019 Ashes series (officially the Specsavers Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes in August and September 2019. The venues were Edgbaston, Lord's, Hea ...
. * Sky Sports Ryder Cup: From 18 September to 2 October 2014, Sky rebranded Sky Sports 4 as Sky Sports Ryder Cup. The channel was dedicated to the coverage of the
2014 Ryder Cup The 40th Ryder Cup matches were held 26–28 September 2014 in Scotland on the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder in Perth & Kinross. This was the second Ryder Cup held in Scotland; it was previously at Muirfield i ...
from Gleneagles. It repeated from 26 September to 5 October 2016 for the Ryder Cup for that year. In 2018, Sky Sports Golf was rebranded to Sky Sports Ryder Cup to bring coverage of the 2018 tournament. The channel will return on 20 September 2021 after a 4-year hiatus. * Sky Sports Darts: In recent years, Sky Sports has launched Sky Sports Darts for the duration of the
PDC World Darts Championship The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...
. The channel mixes live coverage with replays of the most recent sessions and classic moments from the tournament's history. Sky Sports Darts was first seen for the 2015 World Darts Championship as a rebrand of Sky Sports 3. It returned for the 2016 event when Sky Sports F1 was temporarily renamed Sky Sports Darts instead, while in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
it was Sky Sports 3 that was rebranded again. After this, Sky Sports Arena was rebranded as Sky Sports Darts for the
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
,
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
,
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
and
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
events. * Sky Sports World Cup: From 14 February to 29 March 2015, Sky rebranded Sky Sports 2 as Sky Sports World Cup. The channel was dedicated to the coverage of the
2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...
, from
Australia and New Zealand Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
. * Sky Sports The Open: During their first live broadcast of golf's Open Championship from 11 to 18 July 2016, Sky Sports 1 rebranded as Sky Sports The Open. From 17 to 24 July 2017, Sky Sports 4 was rebranded Sky Sports The Open, and would be replaced by Sky Sports 4's replacement, Sky Sports Golf. Sky Sports The Open returned in 2018, 2019 and 2021 during the week in which the Open was held. * Sky Sports The Players: From 8 May to 14 May 2017, Sky rebranded Sky Sports 4 as Sky Sports The Players. The channel was dedicated to the coverage of the
2017 Players Championship The 2017 Players Championship was the 44th Players Championship, held May 11–14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and the 36th edition held at the Stadium Course. Kim Si-woo, age 21, shot a final round 69 to win at 278 (−10), ...
. This was repeated on Sky Sports Golf for the 2018, 2019 and 2021 competitions, and also the 2020 competition prior to it being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. * Sky Sports US Open: From 11 to 19 June 2018, Sky rebranded Sky Sports Golf as Sky Sports US Open, dedicated to the coverage of the 2018 US Open. * Sky Sports USA: From 3 January to 5 February 2019, Sky Sports Action was rebranded as Sky Sports USA, with a focus on the National Football League (highlighted by the playoffs leading up to
Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...
) and National Basketball Association coverage (highlighted by the NBA Global Games series at The O2 Arena in London), as well as shoulder and archive programmes. * Sky Sports Cricket World Cup: From 31 May 2019 to 14 July 2019, Sky Sports Cricket was rebranded as Sky Sports Cricket World Cup. The channel was dedicated to the coverage of the
2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
in England and Wales. *Sky Sports Netball: From July 2019 to August 2019, Sky Sports Mix was rebranded as Sky Sports Netball. The channel was dedicated to coverage of the
2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matche ...
. *Sky Sports NFL: In August 2020, to mark its 25th season of its broadcast rights to the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, it was announced that Sky Sports Action would be rebranded annually as Sky Sports NFL, lasting from early September through the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
in February. It was stated that at least five games per-week would air on the channel, including all '' Monday Night Football'' and ''
Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...
'' games. This was repeated from 26 April to 8 May 2021 and again from 23 August 2021 to February 2022. *Sky Sports The Lions: From 17 July 2021 to 10 August 2021, Sky Sports Action was rebranded as Sky Sports The Lions. This channel was dedicated to coverage of the
2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour that took place in South Africa in July and August 2021. The British & Irish Lions, a team selected from players eligible to represent England, Ireland, Scot ...
. *Sky Sports The Hundred: From 21 July 2021 to 23 August 2021, Sky Sports Cricket was rebranded as Sky Sports The Hundred. This channel was dedicated to coverage of the inaugural
2021 season of The Hundred The 2021 season of The Hundred was the inaugural season of The Hundred, a professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament involving eight men's and women's teams located in major cities across England and Wales. The tournament was run by the ...
. This returned during the 2022 season.


Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing is the only channel not wholly owned by Sky, although purchased majority control of it in 2017. The channel was founded in 2000 as At the Races by the Go Racing consortium, a partnership of Channel 4, Sky and Arena Leisure plc (owner of Ascot Racecourse, and acting on behalf of a further 27 out of the 59 British racecourses) in July 2004. Following its high-profile collapse (and Channel 4 removing itself from the consortium) the network – now purely a joint venture between Sky plc and Arena Leisure – focuses on
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
from the United Kingdom, Ireland, North America and Germany, showing many live races and related shows. The station is "affiliated" with various betting companies, since gamblers are generally the sport's main audience, and its pictures, provided by satellite link provider SIS, are also commercially distributed to betting shops across the country. On 1 January 2019, At the Races relaunched as Sky Sports Racing; the relaunch includes wider availability and heavier integration with the remaining Sky Sports channels, the relocation of production facilities to Sky Campus in Isleworth from their former base at SIS's facilities in
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
, and availability in high-definition. The network also acquired rights to fixtures from the Ascot Racecourse.


Defunct channels


PremPlus

PremPlus was a
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
channel dedicated to airing live Premier League football. It was launched on 18 August 2001, showing 40 pay-per-view Premier League matches. The main presenter on PremPlus was Marcus Buckland with former Arsenal manager George Graham providing punditry. The channel was called ''Premiership Plus'' from 2001 to 2004, before being shortened to the later PremPlus for the beginning of the 2004–05 season. PremPlus closed down after the last match of the 2006–07 season after Setanta Sports obtained a third of the Premier League rights for 2007–10. This left Sky with only 92 live matches, meaning a pay-per-view service was unsustainable. An internet television service named Now TV was launched in 2012, offering a non-contract subscription to Sky Sports thus making the service a part spiritual successor to PremPlus.


Sky Sports News Radio

Sky Sports News Radio was a British online radio station broadcasting sports news, results and information 24 hours a day. It was a sister service to the television channel Sky Sports News HQ. The station was launched in June 2010 and broadcasts online and via digital platforms from the Teamtalk studios in Leeds. It originally broadcast from 8.00am to 6.00pm, expanding to a full 24-hour schedule in August 2010 to coincide with the start of the 2010–11 football season. The station was initially only available to Sky Sports subscribers, but became free to all listeners when its sister television channel was removed from Freeview. The station can also be listened to via the Sky Sports apps and third party platforms such as TuneIn Radio and The Pure Lounge. News reports were sourced from the Sky Sports News newsroom, Sky News Radio and information was shared with SkySports.com, based in the same office. The station's managing editor was Mark Chesworth. The station closed in September 2014.


Technological advances


Sky Sports channels in HD

Sky Sports Main Event HD launched on 22 May 2006 as Sky Sports HD, and airs live all sports screened in HD like
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, Premier League and English Football League as well as English Premiership,
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
Rugby and among others. The 2008 Ryder Cup was also screened in HD. In July 2006, ''Sky Sports HD2'' launched on Sky channel 409, at the same time, the original HD channel was renamed ''Sky Sports HD1'' and moved to channel 408, with Sky Sports News switching to channel 405. There was also a HD version of PremPlus, called ''PremPlus HD'', which broadcast on Sky channel 483 until the football season ended. It was briefly branded ''Sky Sports HDX'' and used to broadcast other Sky Sports content in HD, before it ceased broadcasting. HD broadcasts of rugby league's Super League began from the start of the 2007 season in February 2007.
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
marked the first NFL broadcast in HD in the UK; additional NFL games in HD have since been phased in. '' Monday Night Football'', ''
Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...
'', '' Thanksgiving Day games'' and the NFL Playoffs were shown in HD from 2008. Sky Sports HD3 launched on 17 March 2008, to coincide with WWE's first UK HD broadcast. The channel broadcast a large quantity of WWE and golf. Sky Sports HD4 launched on 29 April 2010. Due to an Ofcom review of premium services, Sky Sports HD1 and HD2 launched on the Virgin Media platform on 2 August 2010. This marked the first time that Sky's HD programming was shown via a rival service.
Smallworld Cable Smallworld Fibre (previously Smallworld Cable, Wightcable North and OMNE) was a British telecommunications company based in Irvine, North Ayrshire. The coverage area was Irvine, Dreghorn, Troon, and Kilmarnock in the west of Scotland, and Carl ...
added Sky Sports HD1 and HD2 in the first quarter of 2012. UPC Ireland added Sky Sports 1 HD and 2 HD along with Sky Sports News HD on 16 August 2012. Sky Sports News HD launched on 23 August 2010. It was rebranded as Sky Sports News HQ HD on 12 August 2014 along with the standard channel. On 1 March 2012, the HD channels were given a minor rebrand, with the 'HD' moving to the end of the channel names, for example Sky Sports 1 HD instead of Sky Sports HD1. Sky Sports F1 HD launched on 9 March 2012. Sky Sports 2 HD was also rebranded to ' Sky Sports Ashes HD' in the same move used for the standard channel on 30 June until 31 August 2013. Sky Sports 4 HD was also rebranded to ' Sky Sports Ryder Cup HD' in the same move used for the standard channel on 18 September 2014 until 2 October 2014. Sky Sports 3 HD, Sky Sports 4 HD and Sky Sports F1 HD launched on Virgin Media on 15 July 2014. Sky Sports 5 HD launched on 12 August 2014 as well as being added on Virgin Media. Sky Sports 3, 4 and 5 HD launched on Virgin Media Ireland on 15 October 2014. On 1 January 2015, Sky Sports News HQ HD, along with Sky News HD were added on Virgin.


Sky 3D

Sky Sports has made a number of high-profile broadcasts available on its 3D television service. The first sports broadcast on
Sky 3D The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
was the
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
vs. Chelsea Premier League game on 3 April 2010. But as of 25 September 2014, the future of Sky 3D looked in serious doubt as Sky announced they will not be airing a Premier League game for the 2014–15 season. The channel closed on 9 June 2015.


3D broadcasting tests

On 31 January 2010, the match between
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and Manchester United was shown in 3D in around 30 pubs around the United Kingdom. The special glasses were seen being tried by
Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
and
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
, and the commentators and the studio presenters mentioned of this being a world premiere live sports 3D presentation several times.


4K UHD

On 13 August 2016, selected Sky Sports events became available to watch in UHD for the first time. 124 Premier League matches were broadcast in the 2016–17 season along with every race, qualifying session and practice in the
2017 Formula One season The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 71st season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 68th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governin ...
and England cricket's Test match series against South Africa in summer 2017. Customers need to be Sky Q 2TB multiscreen customers who subscribe to Sky Sports pack in order to receive UHD broadcasts.


4K broadcasting tests

It was widely reported that Sky used the West Ham United v Stoke City Premier League game on 31 August 2013 as an internal production test for broadcasting 4K/Ultra HD picture. In the "Sky Views Blog", Barney Francis as the managing director stated that, although it was only viewed internally, the test has been key in helping Sky evaluate whether it will start broadcasting in 4K: Sky later tested 4K by broadcasting a whole week of
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 ...
in 4K format. It was later reported that Sky would launch their own 4K set top box to broadcast sporting events in mid-end of 2015.


Permanent UHD channel

On 27 July 2022, Sky Sports launched a UHD channel for Sky Sports Main Event.


Programming

Sky owns exclusively United Kingdom and Ireland or rights to a number of sports, most notably the ones listed below. They also transmit a large range of other sports. Some of the BSB's Sports Channel programming were the FA Cup, US Open tennis, and American football from the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
. Many of the BSB Sports Channel's rights packages, such as those for the FA Cup, Wimbledon and Test cricket, were acquired in tandem with the BBC.


Football


Premier League

Sky Sports will show 155 live Premier League matches this season. These games are played on Friday nights, Saturday evenings and nights, Sundays and Monday nights, for which Sky broadcasts the dedicated programmes ''Friday Night Football'' (FNF), ''
Saturday Night Football ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC'' (branded for sponsorship purposes as ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC presented by Capital One'') is an American weekly presentation of prime time broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association ...
'' (SNF), ''Renault Super Sunday'' and '' Monday Night Football'' (MNF). Games that Sky Sports broadcast outside these time slots have the programme title, ''Premier League Live''. David Jones is the presenter of ''Super Sunday'' and ''Monday Night Football'' and Kelly Cates is the presenter of ''Friday Night Football'' and ''Saturday Night Football''. Both presenters take it in turns to present ''Premier League Live''. The main studio pundits include Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jamie Redknapp,
Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
,
Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...
, Micah Richards,
Karen Carney Karen Julia Carney (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, includi ...
and
Michael Dawson Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
. Sky Sports' lead commentators include Martin Tyler,
Rob Hawthorne Rob Hawthorne is an English football commentator, currently working for Sky Sports. He is notable for his commentating alongside Andy Gray in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final in Istanbul. He was born in Dudley, Worcestershire now West Midlan ...
and Bill Leslie with Ian Crocker, Gary Weaver and Seb Hutchinson appearing occasionally, while co-commentary is regularly provided by Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Alan Smith,
Andy Hinchcliffe Andrew George Hinchcliffe (born 5 February 1969) is an English former professional footballer, sports television pundit, and co-commentator for Sky Sports. As a player, he was a left-back from 1986 until 2002. He began his career with Manchester ...
, Karen Carney and occasionally, Don Goodman and
Lee Hendrie Lee Andrew Hendrie (born 18 May 1977) is an English former professional footballer and pundit for Sky Sports. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Aston Villa where he spent fourteen years. He also play ...
. Sky Sports usually utilise a standard two-person commentary team across the Premier League coverage, however, on bigger games, a three-person commentary team of Martin Tyler, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher is used. Geoff Shreeves, Patrick Davison, Greg Whelan,Emma Saunders and
Eilidh Barbour Eilidh Margaret Barbour (; born 14 December 1982) is a Scottish television presenter and reporter. In 2017, she was named as the main presenter for BBC's golf coverage, replacing Hazel Irvine in the role. Career In 2005, Barbour graduated from ...
are the main reporters on the Premier League coverage. Woods also presents from pitch-side from the ground at which the earlier game is held on Super Sunday coverage.


=''Game of the Day''/''Premier League Replay''

= * ''Game of the Day'': On-air at 8.30pm every Saturday evening with the full 90 minutes of a match selected from the day's 3.00pm kick-offs. * ''Premier League Replay'': On-air at 10.30pm every Saturday with a choice of extended highlights of every Premier League game played that day except matches shown live on BT Sport. Viewers on the Sky Digital and Virgin Media platforms can choose extended highlights of up to eight games. Viewers who do not use the interactive service will see 30 minutes of highlights from one match. The lead commentators that appear on ''Game of the Day'' and ''Premier League Replay'', consist of a variety of freelancers including :
Peter Drury Peter Drury (born 24 September 1967) is a British sports commentator who currently works for NBC Sports as the lead main (play-by-play) commentator for its Premier League coverage in the United States. Prior to joining NBC Sports, Drury was the ...
,
Jim Proudfoot Jim Proudfoot (born 16 December 1972) is an English football commentator who has worked on national radio and television since the late 1990s. Early life Proudfoot was born in the West Country on 16 December 1972 but moved to the Midlands at a yo ...
, Joe Speight, Ian Darke, Gary Taphouse, Nigel Adderley, Mark Scott and Jonathan Beck. Whilst the co-commentators include, Tony Gale, Keith Andrews, Andy Walker, Garry Birtles, Davie Provan, Don Goodman, David Phillips,
Danny Gabbidon Daniel Leon Gabbidon (born 8 August 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City (two spells), West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, and Panteg. He a ...
,
Terry Gibson Terence Bradley Gibson (born 23 December 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Manchester United and Wimbledon. Playing career Born in Walth ...
, Iain Dowie and Efan Ekoku. These are the same feeds as IMG use for the
Premier League Productions Premier League Productions is an IMG produced company with studio shows and commentators for worldwide viewers of Premier League association football. English-language broadcast team The company has a group of UK based commentators, pundits, and pr ...
World Feed to broadcast to international audiences. Games that air on BT Sport, that Sky Sports show highlights clips of, across their digital and interactive platforms, feature Premier League Productions World Feed commentary.


English Football League

Sky Sports broadcasts exclusive live coverage of the English Football League and
EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
. Sky show a total of 148 matches each season, up to 2023–24 from the Championship, League One,
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
,
EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
and
EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
. David Prutton and Michelle Owen are the presenters of the EFL coverage. Gary Weaver, Daniel Mann,
Alan Parry Alan Parry (born 1948 in Garston, Liverpool) is an English sports commentator, concentrating on football and athletics. He has commentated for all four main broadcasters of football in the UK – the BBC, BT Sport, ITV and Sky TV, as well as f ...
, David Stowell, Pien Meulensteen, Ian Crocker, Seb Hutchinson, Rob Palmer and Gary Taphouse are the main commentators. The main studio pundits and co-commentators include Andy Hinchcliffe, Keith Andrews, Don Goodman and Lee Hendrie. Freelance pundits, Clinton Morrison and Danny Gabbidon also occasionally appear in the studio and in co-commentary respectively. Jonathan Oakes, David Craig and Guy Havord are the reporters. As of the 2018/2019 season, Sky gained rights to show all midweek Championship fixtures across interactive and digital platforms. This means that whilst one game is being shown on the main channel, Sky Sports Football, alternative channel, Sky Sports Action, the
red button Red button may refer to: *Red Button (digital television), a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and used to access interactive television services **BBC Red Button, a digit ...
and the Sky Sports app shows coverage of numerous other games on at the same time, with commentary. Commentators of these games include, Guy Havord, Andy Bishop, Rob Palmer, Ian Crocker, Gary Taphouse, David Stowell and Phil Blacker with former La Liga commentators, Kevin Keatings, Jon Driscoll and Dominic Johnson also commentating. Tony Gale, Lee Hendrie and Danny Gabbidon provide co-commentary on these games.


EFL Cup

Sky Sports broadcast two matches live per round in the EFL Cup, the two-legged semi-finals and the final; a total of 15 live games per season. Mark Chapman is the main host of EFL Cup games. Punditry is provided by select guests associated with the clubs involved, but in the latter stages of the competition, pundits from the Premier League output are used on coverage too. Martin Tyler, Rob Hawthorne, Bill Leslie, Gary Weaver, Alan Parry, David Stowell, Ian Crocker, Pien Meulensteen, Daniel Mann, Seb Hutchinson and Rob Palmer are the lead commentators throughout the competition with the co-commentators including, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Alan Smith, Andy Hinchcliffe, Don Goodman and Lee Hendrie. The main reporter on EFL Cup games is Guy Havord however Jonathan Oakes and David Craig are occasionally called upon to cover.


EFL Trophy

Alongside coverage of the 15 EFL Cup games per season, Sky's EFL contract also allows coverage of the two semi finals and final of the
EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
every season. The same personnel that appear on Sky's EFL coverage, also appear on EFL Trophy coverage.


Scottish Professional Football League

Sky owns full exclusive live rights to the
Scottish Professional Football League The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As ...
, showing 48 games per season. SPFL Coverage is presented by Eilidh Barbour or occasionally Mark Benstead, alongside studio pundits, Kris Boyd and
James McFadden James Henry McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward. McFadden started his playing career with Motherwell, where he came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scoring ...
. Ally McCoist and
John Hartson John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and BT Sport. As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his time ...
also appear as non-regular studio pundits. The lead commentator on coverage is Ian Crocker, and he is joined by co-commentator, Andy Walker. Luke Shanley is the main match reporter or occasionally, '' Soccer Saturday'' reporter, Charles Paterson also reports.


NIFL Premiership

In February 2017, Sky Sports gained rights to show five NIFL Premiership games per season until the end of the 2021/2022 season, as well as live coverage of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup Final. Presentation comes from freelance presenter,
Graham Little Graham Little (born 12 April 1978) is a freelance Northern Irish television presenter and journalist. He is also the older brother of Dumbarton striker, and Northern Ireland international, Andrew Little. Broadcasting career Little joined UTV in ...
who hosts games, on-site, at the ground. Commentary comes from Northern Ireland national game reporter, Paul Gilmour.


Major League Soccer

In 2015, Sky Sports secured rights to broadcast Major League Soccer for eight seasons through 2022. Coverage is shared with FreeSports, and commentary is taken from the World Feed.


Bundesliga

On 5 August 2021, Sky Sports acquired the rights to Germany's Bundesliga and Supercup for the following four seasons.


Women's Super League

On 21 June 2021, Sky Sports won the live broadcast rights to the FA Women's Super League for the next three seasons through to 2024. As part of the deal, Sky Sports will broadcast 35 games per season. The presenter of the WSL on Sky Sports is
Caroline Barker Caroline Barker (born 1981) is a British sports journalist and broadcaster who works in television and radio. She currently presents mainly for BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service, Sky Sports and Premier League Productions. Barker was the fir ...
, and the main studio pundits are
Karen Carney Karen Julia Carney (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, includi ...
and Casey Stoney. Lead commentators comes from Seb Hutchinson and Jacqui Oatley alongside co-commentators Sue Smith and Siobhan Chamberlain. Lynsey Hooper is the pitchside reporter


Supplementary programming


=''Soccer AM''

= Launched in 1995, '' Soccer AM'', is a Saturday morning talk show presented by John "Fenners" Fendley and ex-footballer Jimmy Bullard, with a focus on humorous analysis of British football, largely but not exclusively based around the Premier League.


=''Soccer Saturday''

= Launched in 1992, ''Soccer Saturday'' is a live updates show, broadcast on Saturdays during the football season. The programme updates viewers on the progress of association football games in the United Kingdom on Saturday afternoons. The current host is Jeff Stelling, and the lead studio pundit is, Paul Merson. Other studio pundits include, Tony Cottee, Iain Dowie, Alan McInally, Matt Murray, Glen Johnson, Clinton Morrison and Sue Smith. Regular reporters include Chris Kamara, Bianca Westwood, David Craig, Dickie Davies, Rob Palmer, Johnny Phillips,
Neil Mellor Neil Andrew Mellor (born 4 November 1982) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career at Liverpool in the Premier League. He made his name in 2004 by scoring a stunning last-minute goal from long r ...
, John Gwynne, Peter Smith, Peter Stevenson, Stuart Jarrold,
Paul Walsh Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
, Simon Watts, Faye Carruthers, Tony Colliver, Jonathan Beales, Bob Hall, Steve Jackson, Mike Jones, Russ Taylor, Mark Benstead, Charles Paterson, Frank Gilfeather, Andy Walker, Stuart Lovell, Davie Donaldson and John Temple. A midweek programme with the same format fronted by Julian Warren, is also broadcast when there are a number of major games taking place, such as on UEFA Champions League nights, and is called ''Soccer Special''. Warren also hosts ''Soccer Saturday'' when Stelling is unavailable.


=''Sunday Supplement''

= Launched in 1999, ''
Sunday Supplement ''Sunday Supplement'' (formerly ''Jimmy Hill's Sunday Supplement'') is a Sunday morning television programme in the United Kingdom about football which was broadcast between 1999 and 2020. The programme aired on Sunday mornings on Sky Sports P ...
'' was a Sunday morning magazine style pundit show, presented by Neil Ashton from 2012 to January 2020, when Jacqui Oatley took over until the show ceased to air in August 2020. Originally ''Jimmy Hill's Sunday Supplement'', but after a revamp in 2007, Hill was dropped.


=''Goals on Sunday''

= '' Goals on Sunday'' is a Sunday morning highlights show, presented by Alex Scott and Chris Kamara.


Football presenters


Lead commentators


Studio pundits/co-commentators


Reporters


Cricket

Sky was the first broadcaster to show live coverage of a complete overseas tour involving England when they toured the West Indies in 1990. This was originally shown on
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
acquired the rights to show home international series involving England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies at various times as well as showing almost every England overseas tour and ICC tournaments such as the
Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
, Champions Trophy and
T20 World Cup The ICC Men's T20 World Cup (earlier known as ICC World Twenty20) is the international championship of Twenty20. Organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament consists of 16 teams, comprising t ...
. Sky also shows extensive coverage of
county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...
, with over 60 live games each season involving every county in all competitions. The Kia Super League was added to Sky's coverage of Women's cricket in 2017 when it shows eight matches from the
2017 Women's Cricket Super League The 2017 Women's Cricket Super League, or 2017 Kia Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the second season of the Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), a semi-professional women's cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition, run ...
. In 2018, Sky Sports won the rights off BT Sport to broadcast all 34 games of the Caribbean Premier League from the 2018 season which continued into the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2015, Sky Sports won exclusive UK rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League for three years taking the rights from then broadcaster ITV4 and in 2018, these rights were renewed on a multi-year deal. Star Sports, the global distributor of IPL coverage then unexpectedly cut their contract for the 2019 season, however, these rights were reinstated from the
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
season onwards. In 2020, while 2021 IPL season all 60 matches also shown on Sky, Sky won rights to show all games from the inaugural season of the Lanka Premier League. As of 2021, Sky Sports have agreements with Cricket South Africa and the Pakistan Cricket Board, to show live Tests, ODIs and T20Is from these countries. As part of the deal with the Pakistan Cricket Board, Sky won rights to show the Pakistan Super League for three years until 2024. Having not won the rights to the
Test series Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association footba ...
of England's tour of India in 2021, Sky Sports gained the rights to the white ball series of this tour and subsequently, for the remainder of 2021, will broadcast all Indian home games. Sky Sports first started broadcasting Home England Tests in 1999. In a joint deal with terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4, it began showing one home Test each summer plus one-day internationals (Channel 4 were the senior broadcast partner). This arrangement continued until 2006, when Sky Sports' flagship live coverage of England's home test series began. The previous year, it was announced by the ECB that it had awarded Sky exclusive coverage of all of England's home tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 Internationals including the
2009 Ashes The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played fi ...
with highlights on Channel 5 produced by Sunset + Vine who produced Channel 4's coverage. The ECB have since renewed Sky Sports' deal until 2024 with BBC taking over the rights held by Channel 5 and picking up additional rights. The Fifth Test vs India at the Oval, (commencing 15 August 2014) was the 200th England Test shown live on Sky Sports. Test cricket coverage is presented by Ian Ward alongside a commentary team of Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight,
Ebony Rainford-Brent Ebony-Jewel Cora-Lee Camellia Rosamond Rainford-Brent (born 31 December 1983) is an English former cricketer who is now a commentator and Director of Women's Cricket at Surrey. She was the first black woman to play for England. She was also ca ...
and occasionally,
Sir Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Engla ...
. Ward himself also appears in the commentary box regularly. Michael Atherton usually conducts the post-match presentation after each game. Along with Sky's team, a guest commentator from the touring side also contributes to the coverage. In recent series, these have included, Dinesh Karthik ( India),
Simon Doull Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
( New Zealand), Ian Bishop ( West Indies),
Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
(
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
) and Wasim Akram ( Pakistan). Highlights are broadcast in a prime time slot each evening. Ian Ward fronts all of England's home ODI and T20 International games alongside commentators, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight,
Mark Butcher Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...
, Ebony Rainford-Brent and occasionally, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara and Stuart Broad along with other international guest analysts from the touring side. Ward also contributes to commentary. Overseas series involving England are presented from the London studio by Nick Knight alongside the likes of Mark Butcher, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Dominic Cork, Niall O'Brien, Stuart Broad and many other guests. Ian Ward, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain contribute to coverage from where England would be touring, as they would usually join the host broadcaster for these series. Sky Sports also have international cricket rights to matches played in India, Pakistan and South Africa. The match coverage is taken from the host broadcasters from these countries. Coverage of county cricket is presented by Nick Knight or Mark Butcher. Commentary comes from
Charles Dagnall Charles Edward Dagnall (born 10 July 1976), also known as Charlie Dagnall, is a cricket commentator and former first-class cricketer who played as a right-arm fast bowling, fast-medium bowler for Cumberland County Cricket Club, Cumberland, Warwi ...
, Ebony Rainford-Brent,
Lydia Greenway Lydia Sophie Greenway (born 6 August 1985) is an English former cricketer who played as a left-handed batter and occasional right-arm off break bowler. She was also regarded as one of the best outfielders in the women's game. She appeared in 1 ...
, Adam Collins, Niall O'Brien, Dominic Cork and
Alex Tudor Alex Jeremy Tudor (born 23 October 1977) is an English former professional cricketer who spent two spells with Surrey County Cricket Club as well as playing for Essex. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He was awarded th ...
, along with many other guest commentators. Knight and Butcher also contributes to commentary. Coverage of women's cricket on Sky Sports is presented by Nick Knight, Mark Butcher or Mel Jones alongside commentators, Charles Dagnall, Adam Collins, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Lydia Greenway and Charlotte Edwards. Knight, Butcher and Jones also contribute to commentary. In 2021, the inaugural season of
The Hundred The 100 may refer to: Arts and entertainment * 100 (DC Comics), fictional organized crime groups appearing in DC Comics * ''The 100'' (novel series), a 2013–2016 science fiction novel series written by Kass Morgan * ''The 100'' (TV series), 20 ...
commenced with Sky Sports broadcasting every single game live. Sky Sports unveiled a new presentation team for coverage of The Hundred. Joining Sky's existing presentation and commentary team, were Andrew Flintoff, Kass Naidoo and
Zainab Abbas Zainab Abbas ( Punjabi, ; born 14 February 1988) is a Pakistani television host, sports presenter, commentator, and former makeup artist. Personal life Zainab Abbas was born in Lahore to domestic cricketer Nasir Abbas and politician Andleeb A ...
, as presenters, and Simon Doull,
Daren Sammy Daren Julius Garvey Sammy (born 20 December 1983) is a Saint Lucian cricketer who played international cricket for the West Indies. He is a two time T20 World Cup winning captain. On making his One-Day International (ODI) debut against Bangla ...
, Darren Gough and
Tammy Beaumont Tamsin Tilley Beaumont (born 11 March 1991) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Kent, The Blaze, Welsh Fire, Sydney Thunder and England. She plays primarily as an opening batter and occasional wicket-keeper. She has previously play ...
, as analysts and commentators. Sky Sports' additional cricket programming includes: * ''The Cricket Debate'' * ''Cricket Classics'' * ''Masterclasses'' * ''In the Zone''


Presenters


Studio analysts and commentators


Rugby union

In 2014, Sky Sports extended their already long-term deal with the
RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...
to continue showing England Internationals (outside of the Six Nations) exclusively live up until the end of the 2019–20 season. This includes their autumn test matches at Twickenham and their annual Spring fixture. Furthermore, Sky broadcast live England Saxons, under 18, under 20 and
England Women The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...
. As a part of the deal with the RFU, Sky also had the rights to broadcast at least 11 games per season from the RFU Championship. Sky holds the rights to broadcast New Zealand,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, South Africa tests and
The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a s ...
. This meant that, aside from Italy, France, Wales and Scotland, Sky held the right to show all Tier 1 nations home Tests (outside the Six Nations Championship). Highlights of England Internationals are shown on BBC Sport and Ireland Internationals are shared with
RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ holds the television ...
. Sky also held the rights to tour matches by England, Ireland, Scotland and France, to South Africa,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and New Zealand (as a part of their contract with
SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs from ...
until 2018 and from 2022). Sky Sports broadcast two live matches each weekend from the Top 14. Sky's contract with SANZAAR also allowed them to show live matches from the
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
competition, as well as the Currie Cup and Mitre 10 Cup. Rugby union coverage on Sky Sports is fronted by
Alex Payne Alex Payne (born June, 1980) is a television presenter and broadcaster in the UK. Early life and education Payne attended Sandroyd School, Eton College and Edinburgh University. Career Until 2018 he spent much of his career presenting l ...
, James Gemmell and Rupert Cox. With guests including
Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...
, Sean Fitzpatrick,
Michael Lynagh Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, AM (born 25 October 1963) is an Australian former rugby union player who played mainly as a fly-half. Lynagh represented Australia from 1984 to 1995, playing at both inside centre and fly half. Lynagh was capped ...
, Paul Wallace, Scott Quinnell,
Pat Sanderson Pat Sanderson (born 6 September 1977 in Chester) is a former England international rugby union player and a former flanker for Worcester. He is the brother of the former England player Alex Sanderson. His early rugby union career blossomed ...
,
Marcelo Bosch Marcelo Bosch (born January 7, 1984) was an Argentine rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of ...
,
Johan Ackermann Johannes Nicolaas 'Johan' Ackermann (born 3 June 1970) is a South African professional rugby union coach and former player. He played as a Lock (rugby union), lock during his playing career between 1995 and 2007. He is currently the head coach at ...
,
Maggie Alphonsi Margaret Alphonsi (born 20 December 1983) is an English former women's rugby union, rugby union player who played as a Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Saracens W.R.F.C. and England women's national rugby union team, England before retiring i ...
,
Rory Lawson Rory Lawson (born 12 March 1981) is a Scottish former rugby union player who played his career in Scotland and England as a scrum half. He won 31 caps for Scotland. He attended Dollar Academy where he captained the school's 1st XV. After a nu ...
, Shane Horgan,
Stuart Barnes Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962 in Grays, Essex) is a former English rugby union footballer, and now rugby commentator for Sky Sports. Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England at international level ...
, Ieuan Evans,
Dewi Morris Dewi Morris (born ) is a former rugby union footballer, who played scrum half for England. Morris was born in Crickhowell, Breconshire, Wales, and graduated from Crewe & Alsager College. He made his England debut in 1988, as a twenty-four yea ...
, Frankie Sheahan, Scott Hastings and
Alan Quinlan Alan Quinlan (''Irish: Ailín Ó Caoindealbhain'', born 13 July 1974) is a retired Irish rugby union player. He played for Munster and was registered to All-Ireland League side Shannon. He retired from rugby in May 2011. Early years Quinlan ...
. Lead commentators include
Miles Harrison Miles Harrison is rugby union commentator for British television networks Sky Sports, Channel 4 and ITV. After obtaining a degree in Politics and Economic History from the University of York and a post-graduate qualification in Radio Journalism f ...
, Rupert Cox, Johnnie Hammond and
Martin Gillingham Martin Gillingham (born 9 September 1963, in Leicester) is an English sports commentator and journalist. He commentates on rugby union for various broadcasters including Sky Sports, BT Sport, ITV, SuperSport, and Setanta Ireland, and on athletic ...
.


Rugby league

The power of television over sport can perhaps be best portrayed by the change of rugby league from a winter sport to one played during the summer months under the banner of Super League. These changes caused great controversy when they were introduced in 1996, yet they have been seen as positive and as having an impact even greater than the broadcaster has had with football. The sport is now seen as being in a healthy state with two or three live matches from the Super League every week fronted by Brian Carney who is joined in the studio by Terry O'Connor,
Phil Clarke Philip Clarke (born 16 May 1971) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Great Britain and England international representative back-rower or , he played his club rugby league in England ...
,
Barrie McDermott Barrie "Baz" McDermott (born 22 July 1972) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain international representative , he played his club football at Oldham ( Heritage № 970), the ...
or
Stuart Cummings Stuart Cummings (born 17 November 1960) is the former Match Officials Director of the Rugby Football League, and a former international referee. Career He played wicketkeeper for Cheshire County Cricket Club in the 1986 and 1987 seasons. He q ...
.
Jon Wells Jon Matthew Wells (born 23 September 1978) is an English rugby league pundit who was the Director of Rugby at the Castleford Tigers in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. He debuted at Super League level in 19 ...
provides analysis from the touchscreen regularly. Bill Arthur, Ben Proe or
Stuart Pyke Stuart Pyke (born 8 July 1961) is a British-born sports journalist and broadcaster. Stuart was born in St Helens, Lancashire, and is married to Christine. He has two children; Daniel and Rachael and two stepdaughters Emma and Victoria. He is no ...
lead the commentary team alongside the summarisers, Terry O'Connor, Phil Clarke, Jon Wells, Barrie McDermott and
Jodie Cunningham Jodie Cunningham is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a or at international level for England women's national rugby league team, England and domestically for St Helens Women, St Helens in the RFL Women's Super League, Women's S ...
. Jenna Brooks and Fraiser Dainton are the pitch-side reporters. Live Super League broadcasts routinely rank amongst the top ten most watched programmes in a week on Sky Sports. Sky has sold rights to a highlights package of the Super League to BBC Sport, who air ''The Super League Show'' on Sunday nights/Afternoon in Northern regions, with a nationwide replay on Monday afternoon. Beginning in 2012, Sky Sports airs
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
matches alongside the BBC: usually, they will air one match in the fourth and fifth rounds and two of the quarter-finals with highlights of the Semi-Finals and Finals which are exclusively live on the BBC. Coverage of the Australia and New Zealand's National Rugby League returned to Sky Sports in 2018 on a five-year contract. The deals includes selected matches from the Telstra Premiership plus the NRL Grand Final as well as the State of Origin series, Pacific Tests,
Auckland Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...
and the All Stars Match.


Motorsport

Sky Sports broadcasts major motorsport events, this includes: * Formula One – since 2012, all race weekends exclusively live except British GP from 2019 to 2024. * Race of Champions, Goodwood Festival of Speed,
FIA Formula 2 The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebranding of the lo ...
, FIA Formula 3 and
IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
all shown on Sky Sports F1. * Extreme E – for the inaugural 2021 series shown on Sky Sports Action (or Arena) and Sky Sports Mix.


Formula One

In July 2011, Sky Sports acquired joint rights to broadcast Formula One in the United Kingdom from until 2018. The deal included the rights to show all practice and qualifying sessions, in addition to the races. The joint broadcast rights were held by BBC but transferred to Channel 4 from the season. The shared nature of the contract initially meant that Sky Sports F1 showed all races live, with 10 races being shown by both Sky and Channel 4 (who were also televising highlights of all races on a delayed basis), however since the start of the 2019 season, Sky have had exclusive rights to broadcast every race live except the British GP, which is both live on Sky and Channel 4, however Channel 4 still show highlights of both qualifying and the race from every other GP. Whilst the initial announcement did prove controversial (with early promises that the races wouldn't be uninterrupted by commercials doing little to quell the negative initial reaction from many fans and observers), in its first two years of broadcasting, the coverage has twice won F1 International Broadcaster of the Year from the FIA (in 2012 & 2013). Sky Sports F1 currently broadcast the entire 2021 season in 4K Ultra-HD, on the Sky Q Silver Ultra-HD package. Presentation team at Grands Prix: *
Simon Lazenby Simon Lazenby is a TV presenter and lead presenter of Formula One for Sky Sports. Lazenby graduated from Durham University with a degree in Natural Sciences. At university he played as a scrum-half for the rugby club and also captained his co ...
hosts coverage with Martin Brundle, Paul di Resta, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Karun Chandhok, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button,
Naomi Schiff Naomi Schiff (born 18 May 1994) is a Rwandan and Belgian racing driver and television presenter. She was born in Belgium, to a Belgian father and Rwandan mother, grew up in South Africa, and now lives in the United Kingdom. In 2020, Schiff ...
and Anthony Davidson as race weekend analysts across the season. Nico Rosberg also serves as an analyst for some races, either being at the track or live from his Monaco home. If Lazenby is unavailable for a weekend, hosting duties fall in the hands of Natalie Pinkham. * Paul Di Resta, Anthony Davidson and Karun Chandhok all serve as touchscreen analysts to the coverage. * David Croft provides commentary on practice sessions, qualifying and the race. During practice sessions, two of, Di Resta, Davidson, Herbert or Chandhok join Croft for co-commentary, while Brundle provides trackside analysis. For qualifying sessions and the race, Brundle is the primary co-commentator, but if unavailable for a race weekend, Di Resta, Davidson or Button stand in as replacements, with Ted Kravitz or Karun Chandhok contributing from the pit lane depending on the race. * Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes report/present across the pit-lane and paddock and cover for Lazenby as host of some practice sessions. * Craig Slater reports on races for Sky Sports News. Sky Sports' additional F1 programming includes: * ''The F1 Show'' * ''Ted's Notebook'' * ''Welcome to the Weekend'' * ''The Inside Line''


Golf

Golf is one of the most broadcast across the Sky Sports channels, with at least one tournament shown live in 50 weeks of the year. Sky Sports' golf presenters include,
Nick Dougherty Nicholas James Dougherty (born 24 May 1982) is a retired English professional golfer. Dougherty was born in Bootle, Merseyside, and attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, Lancashire. He is a protégé of former professional go ...
,
Sarah Stirk Sarah Stirk is a British television presenter currently appearing on Sky Sports Golf. Stirk sold her luxury agency Xclusive Golf to Golfbreaks.com and continues to work for them as an ambassador. Broadcasting career Stirk began her broadcast ...
, Rob Lee and James Haddock. The expert analysts include Paul McGinley, Rich Beem, Mark Roe, David Howell and
Tony Johnstone Anthony Alastair Johnstone (born 2 May 1956) is a Zimbabwean professional golfer. Early life Johnstone was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia. He attended Christian Brothers College. Professional career In 1979, Johnstone turned professional and h ...
. The lead commentators include
Ewen Murray James Ewen Murray (born 7 October 1954) is a retired Scottish professional golfer who played on the European Tour. He is now better known as a commentator for Sky Sports Golf channel. He turned professional in 1971 after considerable success a ...
,
Richard Boxall Richard Boxall (born 28 April 1961) is an English professional golfer. Golf career Boxall turned professional in 1982 and won a place on the European Tour at that year's final qualifying school. He played on the Tour until 2000, and won one To ...
and Richard Kaufman, as well as presenter, Rob Lee. The co-commentators include expert analysts, McGinley, Beem, Roe, Howell, Johnstone, and presenter, Nick Dougherty, as well as many other guests, with
Wayne Riley Wayne Riley (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian professional golfer. Career Riley was born in Sydney. He turned professional in 1977, and started out on the PGA Tour of Australasia. He has won several tournaments in Australia and New Zea ...
and Andrew Coltart providing on-course commentary. Tim Barter and Sarah Stirk are the main interviewers on the golf coverage, with James Haddock reporting on majors for Sky Sports News. Sky Sports also use Golf Channel's commentary for broadcasts of the PGA Tour.


Major championships

Sky Sports has exclusive UK rights for all four majors including the US Open, The Open Championship, the PGA Championship and the
Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...
. Sky also broadcast major championships from the women's tour and senior tour, including the
Kraft Nabisco Championship The Chevron Championship is a professional women's golf tournament. An event on the LPGA Tour, it is one of the tour's five major championships, and has traditionally been the first of the season since its elevation to major status in 1983. Fou ...
,
US Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, ...
,
Senior PGA Championship The Senior PGA Championship, established in 1937, is the oldest of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both PGA ...
,
Senior British Open Championship The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship. Pr ...
,
US Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five Senior major golf championships, major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980 Senior PGA Tour, 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major ...
, and The Women's Open. Sky will use Golf Channel (another Comcast property) feeds for USGA championships.


World Golf Championships

Since its inception in 1999, Sky Sports has broadcast the World Golf Championships exclusively live, with the exception of the 2001
WGC-American Express Championship The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season. Under sp ...
, which was broadcast on the BBC. They usually present the broadcast on site, as they do for major championships and the Ryder Cup, reflecting their importance in the game as the next most important series of events after the majors.


PGA Tour

Sky also have exclusive live UK rights to broadcast the PGA Tour including The Players Championship and PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup until 2022, as well as up to seven events per year from the LPGA Tour.


European Tour

Sky have rights to at least 32 events on the European Tour until 2022, including the Dubai World Championship and exclusive live coverage of the BMW PGA Championship with highlights only on the BBC.


Ryder Cup

Sky Sports shows live coverage of the sport's premier event, the
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 ...
. Since 1995, they have held the exclusive live UK rights to the biennial team event between USA and Europe, broadcasting the event in its entirety for the first time at Oak Hill in 1995. The event was broadcast in High Definition for the first time in 2006 at the K Club in
County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
Ireland. Since 1999, it has also offered interactive coverage with options including the American coverage, Highlights and course guides. Sky holds the rights until 2012, with BBC broadcasting evening highlights. In 2010, Sky broadcast the Ryder Cup in 3D, making it the first live event on Sky 3D, Europe's first residential 3D channel. They also broadcast all of the other major professional team events in the sport such as the Presidents Cup, Seve Trophy,US Open stays on Sky
Sky Sports, 16 June 2008
Royal Trophy,
Omega Mission Hills World Cup The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fi ...
and Solheim Cup. In 2010, Sky Sports broadcast in excess of 150 tournaments from the men's and women's tours.


Darts

During its first two years, Sky Sports covered some BDO tournaments, in a contract it inherited from BSB. The tournaments covered were the World Masters, Gold Cup and British Nations Cup, all three of which were previously broadcast on ITV. Since the creation of the World Darts Council in 1992, since renamed the
Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
(which was formed when many of the leading players, including Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Dennis Priestley,
broke away "Broke Away" is the second single from Scottish band Wet Wet Wet's third studio album, '' Holding Back the River''. It was released on 27 November 1989, entering the charts at number 39 the following Sunday. It peaked four weeks later at number ...
from the British Darts Organisation, which had been the game's sole ruling body), Sky Sports has broadcast their main darts tournaments live. Between 1993 and 2007, Sky were the only regular UK broadcaster of PDC Darts (apart from the 1999 PDC v BDO showdown between Phil Taylor and
Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...
which was broadcast on ITV). However this changed in 2007 when ITV covered the Grand Slam of Darts. This moved to Sky in 2011, but ITV continued to show the Players Championship Finals, with their coverage expanding to include the Masters and the return of the European Championship from 2013, the UK Open (formerly on Sky) from 2014, and the World Series of Darts events from 2015. Sky's coverage includes the
PDC World Darts Championship The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...
which it shows on a temporary channel Sky Sports Darts. The tournament has been broadcast live and in its entirety by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom since its inception. From 2009 onwards, this event has been shot and broadcast in high-definition. The tournament has become more and more popular in recent years with the 2007 World Final achieving a viewing figure in excess of one million for the first time. Sky also shows the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, Premier League,
World Cup of Darts The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.World Youth Championship. Sky used to show the UK Open but since 2014 this has been shown on ITV. Sky Sports has not covered any BDO darts since the split in darts. Sky Sports darts coverage was initially presented by Jeff Stelling with Eric Bristow and commentary from John Gwynne and Dave Lanning, while Sid Waddell joined Sky from the BBC in 1994. Dave Clark replaced Stelling in 2002 although he had already covered some tournaments in 2001.
Stuart Pyke Stuart Pyke (born 8 July 1961) is a British-born sports journalist and broadcaster. Stuart was born in St Helens, Lancashire, and is married to Christine. He has two children; Daniel and Rachael and two stepdaughters Emma and Victoria. He is no ...
joined the commentary team in 2003 (he also works for ITV coverage of PDC Darts),
Rod Harrington Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and former commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed so ...
and Nigel Pearson joined in 2005, Rod Studd joined in 2008 and former BBC Darts commentators David Croft and John Part joined in 2013. Former Sky Sports Darts team: * Eric Bristow (1993–2016) * Dave Clark (2002–2020) * David Croft (2013-2021, only on the World Championship and Premier League) * John Gwynne (1993–2013, subsequently with Eurosport's BDO Darts coverage) *
Rod Harrington Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and former commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed so ...
* Dave Lanning (1993–2010 & 2013, previously worked for ITV Sport 1972–1988) * Nigel Pearson (2006–2022) * Jeff Stelling (1993–2002) * Sid Waddell (1994–2012, previously worked for BBC Sport 1978–1994) * Laura Woods


Boxing

After Sky Sports' six-year contract with
Matchroom Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...
ended in 2021, Sky announced it had signed a new contract with Top Rank and BOXXER to broadcast live coverage of their fights until 2025.
Anna Woolhouse Anna Woolhouse (born in 1984) is a British sports journalist and presenter, who has been working for Sky Sports since 2012. She is the lead boxing presenter for the network, and has covered many high-profile fights, such as Anthony Joshua vs. A ...
is the lead presenter, alongside former boxers, Johnny Nelson, Spencer Oliver,
Paulie Malignaggi Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi (; ; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017 and has since worked as a boxing commentator and analyst. He held world championships in two weight classes, including ...
, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew, with also the likes of
Paul Smith Paul Smith or Paul Smith's may refer to: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (rock vocalist) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of ...
and Matthew Macklin. Commentator Adam Smith is alongside Carl Froch or Matthew Macklin for the primary commentary pairing on main event cards. On larger pay-per view events, Tony Bellew, Paulie Malignaggi or David Haye join the commentary team. Andy Clarke and Matthew Macklin commentate on undercard action. The reporter and post-fight interviewer is Andy Scott.


Mixed Martial Arts

In February 2019, Sky Sports announced a deal with
Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...
to broadcast mixed martial arts events.


NFL

Sky Sports has covered the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
since 1995 and following a deal in August 2020 in which Sky and the NFL has agreed a new five-year partnership which sees Sky continue to broadcast games until the end of the 2024 season. Sky Sports broadcasts every Thursday night, Sunday night and
Monday night ''Monday Night, Recorded Live at the Village Vanguard'' is a 1968 big band jazz album recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City by The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and released on the Solid State Records. All tracks are included on Mo ...
game live, alongside two Sunday evening games. It was also confirmed that Sky Sports NFL, an in-season rebrand of Sky Sports Action would launch on 3 September 2020.


Basketball

In 2018, Sky Sports signed a four-year deal to broadcast the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
in the United Kingdom. Jaydee Dyer presents coverage on Sky Sports alongside analyst, Mo Mooncey. In November 2020, coverage of the British Basketball League returned to Sky Sports in a new two-year deal which sees Sky broadcasting 30 games per season, including BBL Trophy Final, BBL Cup Final and BBL Playoffs. This has been extended to cover the 2022/23 season.


Gaelic games

On 2 April 2014, Sky Sports signed a deal with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to broadcast fixtures from both the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) and the
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...
(SHC). The deal gave Sky Sports 20 championship matches across both sports (
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
and
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
), including both semi-finals and both finals. Sky would have exclusive rights in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom to 14 of these matches, with the remaining six matches being simultaneously broadcast by
RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
as the deal covered the years from 2014 to 2016. It was estimated that the GAA would make €0.5 million from the deal. The deal led to debate in Ireland, with Many loyal fans were unable to watch some key games during the All-Ireland season. The debate was reignited, with former Offaly hurler and television match analyst Michael Duignan stating publicly on RTÉ: "The biggest disgrace of the weekend was on Saturday evening, that Waterford and
Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...
(Round 2 hurling match) wasn't shown free-to-air in this country", a statement which resounded with many GAA fans across Ireland and gained much public sympathy, bringing further into question the continuation of the Sky GAA deal in the long term. On the other hand, the GAA was unlikely to receive the same amount of money from RTÉ as it got from Sky, especially given increasing emphasis on soccer. On 24 October 2022, Sky Sports and the GAA announced a mutual agreement to end their broadcast partnership after nine years.


Summary of sports rights


Football


Cricket


Rugby union


Golf


Motorsport


Boxing


Rugby league


Horse racing


Equestrianism


Darts


Triathlon


American football


Gaelic Games


Netball


Badminton


Bowls


Basketball


Previous coverage


Football


Premier League

Between the 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons, Sky Sports broadcast a 3.00pm Saturday match exclusively for subscribers in the Republic of Ireland. The coverage went out under the ''Premier League Live'' banner and was anchored by the match commentators. The rights for these games were taken over by Premier Sports for the 2019–20 season onwards.


UEFA Champions League

Sky Sports covered the UEFA Champions League between 2003 and 2015 but in 2013, Sky was outbid by BT Sport and the rights transferred at the end of the 2014/15 tournament, with highlights on ITV Sport. Since 2018, BT Sport has also acquired the rights to the highlights of the Champions League and UEFA Europa League.


FA Cup and FA Community Shield

Sky Sports covered the FA Cup since it first went on air as BSB's Sports Channel in 1990 alongside the BBC but has not broadcast the FA Cup since 2008 after both broadcasters were outbid by ITV and Setanta. After the collapse of Setanta, Sky did not bid for the rights so they went to ESPN UK. In 2014–15, the rights transferred from ITV and ESPN to BBC and BT Sport after bidding together. From 2020, ITV won the rights back off BT Sport meaning live coverage of all FA Cup games is on free-to-air television with BBC and ITV sharing the rights. Sky Sports had been the first channel to show the Community Shield live and as with the FA Cup, Sky has not broadcast this event since 2011 after rights transferred to ITV and then BT Sport, then later back to ITV.


England National Football Team

One of Sky's first major live football rights deal was exclusive live coverage of the
England football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...
and held these rights throughout the 1990s. The live rights transferred to BBC Sport in 2001 until 2008, and currently remain free to air with ITV owning the rights. Sky Sports currently still provide coverage of England matches, however not nearly on the same scale as in the 1990s. They are limited to just UEFA Nations League and mid-season international friendlies which thanks to the aforementioned competition, have not occurred as often as they once did.


UEFA Nations League

Until 2022 Sky Sports held the rights to every home and away match featuring Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Wales and cover every other match in the European Qualifiers except the England match which is on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, under this Sky Sports have highlights of England matches. However, in 2018, Sky won the rights to show the UEFA Nations League meaning all home nations games would be broadcast exclusively by Sky, including England games. England matches in the Nations League are presented by David Jones with pundits including Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp. The commentators include Martin Tyler and Alan Smith with Patrick Davison reporting. For highlights of England matches in the European Qualifiers, there is no studio presentation and Martin Tyler and Alan Smith provide commentary. The games were broadcast across four channels, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Mix. Other UEFA Nations League, European Qualifiers and international friendly matches broadcast on these channels involve countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal or games that kick off at an earlier time than the prime time 7.45pm slot. These games are commentary only broadcasts with no studio presentation. The rest of the UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers are broadcast via the Sky Sports Football
Red Button Red button may refer to: *Red Button (digital television), a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and used to access interactive television services **BBC Red Button, a digit ...
feature or online via the Sky Sports App with World Feed commentary.


La Liga

Sky Sports was the long-time home of La Liga, the top-tier of Spanish domestic football, having broadcast the competition for 21 years. From the 2018–19 season, the rights to broadcast La Liga were won by Eleven Sports, then subsequently Premier Sports. During Sky Sports' tenure as La Liga broadcaster, live matches were broadcast on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. Towards the end of the contract, Sky Sports broadcast up to ten live matches each round with the coverage handled by the commentators who included Rob Palmer, Kevin Keatings, Jon Driscoll and Dominic Johnson. They would usually be joined by summarisers, Gerry Armstrong,
Terry Gibson Terence Bradley Gibson (born 23 December 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Manchester United and Wimbledon. Playing career Born in Walth ...
, David Phillips, Garry Birtles and Efan Ekoku. Highlights and weekly review of La Liga, were shown on Revista de La Liga, presented by the Spanish football experts. Mark Bolton, and
Guillem Balagué Guillem Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several Spanish new ...
.


Eredivisie

In 2014, Sky Sports signed an exclusive four-year deal to show live matches from the Dutch top-flight league Eredivisie. The commentary was taken from the world feed provided by
IMG Worldwide IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, events and talent management company headquartered in New York City. It has been owned by Endeavor since 2013. Trans World International (TWI) is an event and pro ...
. Starting with the 2018–19 season, live and exclusive rights were won by Eleven Sports.


Chinese Super League

In 2016, Sky Sports added another competition to its schedule of live football with the addition of the Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League. Commentary was from the World Feed, usually by Wayne Boyce, Paul Walker or
Dan O'Hagan Daniel O'Hagan is a freelance football commentator and TV presenter as well as covering the UEFA Champions League for SBS in Australia and BT Sport in England. Formerly he was the voice of the world feed for the French Football League. He is best ...
. From the start of the 2019 season, live and exclusive rights were won by Eleven Sports.


Rugby union

Sky Sports was the first channel to show live rugby union every week when it picked up the rights to show the top division of England club rugby in the mid-1990s. The rights transferred to ESPN in 2009 and the league is now covered by BT Sport. Sky Sports also covered England matches from the Five/Six Nations from 1997 to 2002 as well as France v England with all other matches being live on the BBC, the rights were sold to the BBC in 2003 and they covered every match live from the Six Nations until 2015 when BBC and ITV teamed up to keep the rights free to air after the BBC were outbid by Sky Sports with BBC covering France, Wales and Scotland home matches and ITV covering England, Ireland and Italy. In 2003, Sky Sports began its coverage of the
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
, when it outbid the previous rights holder BBC Sport with its offer of £20 million for three years. Coverage of ten matches each pool weekend and all knockout matches from the Heineken Cup was the norm. Additionally, up to three matches per round in the Amlin Challenge Cup were usually shown. Following the demise of the Heineken Cup, Sky Sports shared the rights to the newly formed Rugby Champions Cup with BT Sport, until the 2017–18 season. Sky exclusively broadcast up to 30 pool matches, two quarter-finals and one semi-final from each competition with the finals being shown by both. Sky also received first pick on Challenge Cup matches involving Premiership Rugby clubs. From the 2018–19 season, Sky Sports no longer have the shared rights to the Champions Cup, these passed to Channel 4 and so did the contracts to cover Ireland's Autumn Internationals after 2018. Commencing from the 2014–15 season, Sky Sports began showing games from the Pro14 (covering 30 matches alongside the current terrestrial broadcasters
BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...
,
S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...
,
TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known a ...
,
BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
and
BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal s ...
). From 2018, Premier Sports broadcast all 152 games live.


Rugby league

Until 2012, Sky aired Championship and
Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
games on Thursdays and Sundays, until the rights for these were purchased by Premier Sports. Sky also held the rights to show the majority of the matches from the Four Nations and the previous competition the Tri Nations live, with the other games being shown live or in highlights form on BBC Sport and Sky Sports previously showed the 2008 World Cup exclusively live with only highlights on the BBC. This agreement ended in 2012 and Sky Sports surprisingly lost the rights to International Rugby League from the 2013 Rugby League World Cup to the BBC and Premier Sports. The matches for the 2013 and 2017 Rugby League World Cup were shared between the BBC and Premier Sports with BBC covering all England matches, Wales v Italy, One Quarter Final, One Semi-final and the Final in 2013. The BBC and Premier Sports had also signed a deal to cover the 2014 and 2016 Four Nations.


Tennis

For nearly 25 years, Sky Sports was the main broadcaster of the US Open, covering the even between 1991 and 2015 but decided not to renew its contract to broadcast this event in 2016. Sky also previously covered Davis Cup tennis but these rights moved to the BBC and Eurosport. Sky was the broadcaster of ATP Tour events from 2002 until 2018, when
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
became the exclusive UK broadcaster. The Sky Sports tennis coverage was presented by Marcus Buckland with pundits,
Annabel Croft Annabel Nicola Croft (born 12 July 1966) is a former professional British female tennis player and current radio and television presenter. As a tennis player she won the WTA Tour event Virginia Slims of San Diego and represented Great Britain i ...
, Greg Rusedski and Peter Fleming. Commentators included Barry Millns, Leif Shiras,
Mark Petchey Mark Rodney James Petchey (born 1 August 1970) is a former tennis player from England, who turned professional in 1988. He now works as a tennis commentator and analyst for Amazon Prime, ITV, the BBC, the Tennis Channel and others. Personal ...
and Barry Cowan. The company was able to bid to regain broadcast rights to the US Open for 2023 when Amazon did not extend its contract in 2022. Sky Sports will resume its coverage of tennis in 2023 when it resumes its coverage of the US Open.


Ice hockey

In 2006, Sky Sports began showing a replay from a match in the
Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...
every week. Due to large audience numbers, even though it is normally on Sky Sports 4, they decided to show a live game for the first time in several years when they showed the play-off finals in 2010. A new deal was signed for the 2010/11 season in which Sky agreed to show eight live games throughout the season and a weekly highlights show. However, the broadcast rights have since moved to Premier Sports.


Boxing

In 1994, Sky Sports won the contract to show fights promoted by Matchroom Sport and the two enjoyed a deal which lasted for 27 years. The most recent contract provided Sky Sports with upwards of 20 boxing events per year. In June 2021, fights promoted by Matchroom Sport moved to streaming service DAZN. In April 2019, Sky Sports aired nine fights of the World Boxing Super Series in the 2018–19 season, starting with the semi-final world title bouts between bantamweights Nonito Donaire and Stephon Young followed by
super-lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
s Regis Prograis and Kiryl Relikh, and ending in November with the bantamweight final between Nonito Donaire and Naoya Inoue. Previously, the event had been aired on ITV Box Office in the 2017–18 season but
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
did not renew the contract for the following season.


WWF/WWE

In 1989, Sky acquired the rights to World Wrestling Federation, which later changed its name to ''World Wrestling Entertainment'' in May 2002 due to legal issues with World Wide Fund for Nature. Part of the deal with Sky stated that major pay-per-view's such as WrestleMania, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam were part of the
Sky Sports Box Office Sky Box Office is Sky Limited, Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 Febru ...
pay-per-view service, and that '' SmackDown''s first broadcast moved from
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
to Sky Sports. As part of the deal, ''
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
'' was shown live early on Tuesday morning because of the time difference. ''SmackDown'' was broadcast live early Wednesday morning for the same reason. Sky also broadcast WWE's third brand, '' ECW on Sci-Fi'' before it was cancelled. For a couple of months it replaced '' WWE Velocity'' on Sunday mornings. It was shown two nights after the US broadcast after a viewer complained to
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
in August 2006 about an image in the opening credits, and Sky agreed to air the program after the
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
. The deal of 14 pay-per-views did not account for WWE's extra pay-per-views which have been added subsequently, and therefore
WWE Cyber Sunday WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, th ...
would not have been picked up by Sky. However, a last-minute deal was struck between Sky and WWE, that allowed the pay-per-view to be shown live on Sky Sports 1. The first WWE event to be shown in widescreen (16:9) format on Sky Sports was No Way Out on 18 February 2008 at 1.00am on Sky Sports 1. Although after this, other WWE programming were still in standard (4:3) format however due to complaints all WWE programming will now be airing in widescreen from a down-scaled HD feed. When '' WWE Heat'' ended in June 2008, it was replaced with
WWE Vintage Collection ''WWE Vintage'' is a professional wrestling television program from WWE showcasing action from the extensive WWE Libraries, WWE video library. The show was hosted by Gene Okerlund and, later in its run, Renee Young. The current hosts is Scott Sta ...
, a programme which showcases classic archive matches from the extensive WWE Video Library. On 30 January 2014, Sky Sports announced they had signed another five-year deal with WWE, it will now continue to exclusively broadcast flagship shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland through to 2019. WWE pay-per-views were previously shown on Sky Sports for free roughly every five months, with all remaining pay-per-views being broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office at an additional cost. However, as of 2015, all pay-per-views were broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office at a cost of £19.95. On 20 June 2019, it was announced that WWE would be leaving Sky Sports after 30 years, with BT Sport taking over the rights from January 2020.


Darts

Sky Sports previously broadcast the UK Open from its inception in 2003 up until the 2013 tournament, after which it moved to ITV.


References


Notes


External links

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