9 cheapest ways to watch Sky Sports
Sky Sports isn't known for being cheap. But don't give up hope of getting an affordable subscription just yet – we've found ways to lower the monthly costs.
Credit: Stock-Asso – Shutterstock
As a broadcaster of Premier League football, Formula 1, golf, tennis, boxing (... the list goes on), the range of sports on Sky Sports is hard to beat.
But, if you're on this page, we're assuming you know that the subscription can be pricey – at least when paid at full price.
Luckily for you, though, we've found deals that can save you £100s each year on a Sky Sports subscription.
9 ways to save money on a Sky Sports subscription
Here are the cheapest ways to watch Sky Sports:
-
Get a six-month saver membership from NOW
Credit: motorsports Photographer – Shutterstock
While a package through Sky has a monthly cost of £46+ (prices below), a six-month saver membership from NOW gives you access to all 12 Sky Sports channels for £26 per month. That's a saving of around £120 across the six months.
NOW has a few Sky Sports offers, but this is one of their best.
With the six-month saver membership, you'll have access to bonus streams including EFL matches, F1 Race Control and 105 tennis tournaments.
The subscription includes one month of free Boost which lets you stream in full HD.
This deal is available to new NOW Sports customers and existing members with 30 days or less left on their current offer. Read the full T&Cs on NOW's website to check if you're eligible.
-
Watch Sky Sports via Virgin Media's Stream service
If you have a Virgin Media broadband package, you can get Stream. It has an activation fee of £35 and, for a monthly cost, lets you subscribe to Sky Sports.
There are a couple of Sky Sports packages you could add to the Stream service:
- Sky Sports HD/Ultra HD – From £27 extra per month
- Sky Sports & Cinema HD – From £40 extra per month.
Both packages are on a 30-day rolling contract and will increase in price each April.
These are definitely worth considering if you do have Virgin Media broadband. £27 per month is a good deal for Sky Sports HD!
-
Combine Sky Sports with your broadband package
With Sky broadband, there's the option to add Sky Sports to the bundle.
At the time of writing, you can get a Sky TV and broadband package for £39 per month for 18 months (new customers only). This includes ultrafast broadband, Sky TV, Netflix with ads and Sky Stream.
For an extra £20 per month, you can add Sky Sports on an 18-month contract (but prices may change during this period). So, at the current price, this would cost £59 per month.
While £59 per month isn't cheap, factor in the cost of a Netflix subscription and broadband.
As an example, let's say you're currently paying £25 on broadband and £4.99 on Netflix every month. By getting this package deal, you'd only be paying around £29 more each month to get access to Sky Sports and Sky Entertainment.
Especially if you reckon you'll use Sky Entertainment, this could be a great way to save money on Sky Sports.
-
Buy a Sky Sports day pass
Is there just one particular game you want to watch on Sky Sports? Don't pay for a whole month's subscription – get a day pass from NOW instead.
While writing this guide, we saw an offer to get a day membership of Sky Sports for £14.99. For 24 hours, this pass gives you access to all 12 Sky Sports channels.
If you only plan to watch one or two matches each month, it's hard to find a better Sky Sports deal than this.
-
Get a Sky plan for football
Credit: Jason Ilagan – Shutterstock
For anyone only wanting to watch football, check the Sky Sports website to see if you can save money with certain plans.
Usually, you can save a bit of money by getting the Sky Sports Premier League or Sky Sports Football plan rather than the full Sky Sports package. However, at the time of writing, Sky is running a flash sale with all three plans costing the same.
Check the site for current prices as we've previously seen deals where it's £2 cheaper per month to get a football package rather than a full Sky Sports subscription.
If you feel confident you'll only be watching football, it's something to consider.
-
Look out for Sky Sports free trials
Free trials for Sky Sports aren't always available, but they do occasionally pop up.
For example, we've previously heard of a four-week free trial of Sky Sports being offered to some Sky customers.
If we discover any more Sky Sports free trials, we'll post about them on our deals page so keep an eye on it (link below).
-
Haggle down Sky Sports prices on the phone
Call Sky to see if there are any good deals they can offer you.
The first price they quote you isn't necessarily the lowest they're willing to go, so have a go at haggling down the prices.
This tip is particularly good if you're an existing Sky customer hoping to reduce your monthly costs. If you mention you're thinking about ending your subscription, they might potentially offer you a discount to convince you to stay.
For new customers, it's probably going to be harder to haggle. But it's still worth trying – especially if you say you've found a better deal elsewhere (like one of the deals we've mentioned above!).
-
Find a pub with Sky Sports near you
It's pretty common for pubs to have Sky Sports, so this is a cost-effective way to watch the top games without splashing out on a subscription.
On Useyourlocal's website, you can find pubs near you with Sky Sports.
You could maybe get some friends together and plan a trip to the pub to watch sports. You'll have the fun atmosphere of the pub combined with the big sports events on the TV, all for the cost of a pint (or two).
-
Split the subscription costs with housemates
Once you've found a good Sky Sports deal, save money further by splitting the cost with your housemates.
For example, if you get the six-month saver membership from NOW, it will cost £26 per month for the household. Sharing the cost among a house of four will mean each person only spends £6.50 each month to watch Sky Sports.
And, of course, the more of you there are in the house, the cheaper it will be per person.
While shared living comes with challenges, this is a definite upside of flat sharing!
How much is Sky Sports?
The cost of Sky Sports varies depending on which package you choose, and which company you buy it from.
We've covered deals from places like NOW and Virgin Media. But, to give you an idea of the full cost of the packages, here are the current prices from the Sky Sports website:
- Sky Stream, Sky Sports, Sky TV & Netflix: £46 per month for 18 months (new Sky TV customers only)
- Sky Sports: £20 extra per month for 18 months (requires Sky Q and a new 18-month Sky TV contract at £31+ per month).
The £46 per month package is the cheapest Sky Sports package we've seen on their website.
As we've seen, though, you can save money on a subscription by trying one of the above tips.
Now you've read this, discover more ways to save money on streaming services.
