The cheapest ways to watch Sky Sports
All you need is a few tricks and tips to get cheap Sky Sports
If you’re after a guide to getting cheap Sky Sports, you’ve come to the right place. What does the UK have in common with Cuba, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and North Korea? It mind sound like a pub quiz question, but these nations share a unique relationship. These five countries are the only places in the whole world where you can’t legally tune in or stream any live Premier League, Football League or FA Cup games between 2:45pm and 5:15pm every single Saturday.
Why? It’s pretty obvious why a place like North Korea wouldn’t broadcast Everton vs Crystal Palace from a rainy day in Liverpool. It kinda goes against the whole isolationist thing. But in the UK, it’s down to something called the 3pm blackout, which forbids matches being broadcast to British homes, pubs or bars.
That hasn’t stopped the big broadcasters from charging small fortunes for only a designated selection of live games. Broadcast rights in the UK have been carved up between Sky Sports, TNT Sports (formerly BT Sports) and Amazon Prime. You can spend anywhere between £8.99 and £52 a month just to follow your favourite team week in, week out. And at the end of it all, the consumer is out of pocket.
But there are ways to get cheap Sky Sports. All you need is a few tricks, tips and a little cheek to save you some cash.
What is Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is the UK home of global sport. It’s made up of 8 dedicated channels, and is a portal to live Premier League games (over 500 live football games in total per year), cricket, golf, F1, boxing, NFL, NBA, and much more.
It’s the only place in the UK you can watch every F1 practice, qualifier, and race live. It’s also the home of every England home Cricket Test, ODI and T20, the Ryder Cup and the US Open Championships.
Decide what you want to watch
Throughout the 2023/24 season, Sky Sports will be showing 128 live Premier League games, TNT Sports will air 52, and Amazon Prime has the rights to 20 games. If you’re more of a casual viewer, TNT or Amazon may be just the thing you need. If you’re going to watching Premier League fixtures week in week out, then Sky Sports is the way to go.
Sky Sports: what’s the deal?
The cheapest long term deal we could find is via a Sky Glass TV offer. At the time of writing, Sky is offering a 45in Sky Glass TV with Sky Sports from £34 a month on an 18 month contract. The deal also includes Sky Entertainment and a Netflix subscription free for six months, after which it’ll rise to £26 a month.
The same deals apply to bigger TV sets, too. A 55in costs £39 a month, and the 65in comes in at £44 a month, all with a £10 upfront cost and the same terms as above.
Currently, new customers can sign up to Sky Stream, which already allows access to Sky Entertainment and a free Netflix subscription. After that, Sky Sports can be added for £20 a month for 18 months, or £22 a month on a rolling 31 day agreement.
Sky Sports via NOW TV
If you don’t want to get bogged down by a Sky Sports contract, NOW TV is another way to go. A NOW TV subscription gains access to all 11 Sky Sports channels, including Premier League games, EFL and more airing on Sky Sports.
A 24 hour membership to NOW TV costs £11.98, and a monthly subscription comes in at £34.99. With no contract, you can opt out after the season ends and during international fixtures. There’s usually always an offer or two you can take advantage of, too.
At the time of writing, NOW TV is available for £21 a month for 6 months, with a ‘cancel anytime’ offer thrown in for good measure. Signing up on 19 November will take you through to the end of the 2023/24 season,
Be cheeky
Our next tip is more of a back alley tip, rather than a foolproof piece of advice. Still, it could save you some major coin.
Like any successful business, Sky are keen to keep their existing customers. They certainly don’t want to hear you say that you’re planning to cancel your contract. Who knows, maybe Sky would even offer you a more cost effective deal to keep your business. Do you catch our drift?
But seriously, from a phone contract to extra channels, negotiating a better deal directly can be possible. Just fake it until you make it, baby.
Jack Needham
