Gone are the days when viewers in the UK could expect to see a good deal of top-class sport on the BBC, with further action on ITV and perhaps a bit of racing or, perhaps sumo or kabaddi on Channel 4. Those who are not fans of sport in general probably feel as if there is always some football, snooker or athletics messing up their weekly appointment with EastEnders or the Antiques Roadshow. However, the reality is that while there is more sport than ever available to watch on the small screen, it is now spread across an irritatingly large number of different channels.
Some fans go down the “dodgy box” route, but for those of us that choose to stick to legitimate broadcasts, what channels are out there for the sports-mad UK fan, and how much would you have to spend to cover a whole season of football?
Key Football Channels for UK Viewers
Football is the most-watched sport both globally and in the UK, and there is a massive range of leagues and cups available to view on television. However, for the truly dedicated fan who wants to see just about every match going on in the Premier League, plus take in the Champions League and some lesser competitions from around the world, there is a problem.
Just to watch the key Premier League games, let alone matches from other competitions, has required as many as three different subscriptions in recent seasons. To watch all available Premier League and Champions League games during the 2025/26 campaign, you would need Sky Sports, TNT and Amazon.
There are different ways to access each service, with various packages and offers that crop up from time to time. However, in general, you would be looking at between £145 to £161 per year:
- Sky Sports – £25 to £35pm
- TNT Sports – £25 to £31pm
- Amazon – £95 per year
Being able to watch so much footy is brilliant, but it is far from convenient for the average UK-based fan and even further from cheap. And that’s before we even get to other sports.
Sky Sports – 215+ Premier League Games
For football there has long been one channel that is most associated with the Premier League. Sky Sports was there from the beginning when the old First Division rebranded as the FA Premier League in 1992/93. The broadcaster was integral to the new competition, but back then screened just 60 fixtures per season.
That expanded to 110 in 2001, then 138 between 2004 and 2007. Over the years, Setanta, ESPN, BT Sport, TNT, and Amazon have all broadcast Premier League games, with Sky always the central TV partner. The number of fixtures shown has increased over the years, and the current TV deal means that Sky will show at least 215 games per season from 2025/26 onwards.
TNT Sports – 52 Premier League Games + Champions League
Dedicated fans of the English top flight would also need a deal with TNT Sports (formerly known as BT Sport), as they show 52 PL games a season too. That subscription to TNT will come in handy, though, because the broadcaster also shows, among other things, the Champions League.
TNT are the main broadcaster for the UCL, but there is free-to-air access through a BBC highlights package. The final is also available free through the Discovery+ app, Discovery+ being the streaming partner and home of TNT (although that is scheduled to change to HBO Max at the end of March 2026).
Amazon – Champions League But No Premier League This Season
However, like the Premier League, the Champions League is not content with just having one broadcaster. Amazon also shows some CL clashes, meaning a third subscription is needed if one wants to watch as much PL and UCL as possible.
Amazon have shown Premier League fixtures in previous years, starting with rights to 24 matches in 2019-20 and running for several seasons, most recently settling in to a regular 20 games per season from 2022 to 2025. They were unsuccessful in their bid for coverage for the 2025 to 2029 season.
Other Football Competitions
Beyond those two major competitions, England games can usually be watched on terrestrial, be that at a major tournament, qualification games or friendlies. AFCON was available to view on Channel Four, while EFL action is shown on Sky and the Europa League and Conference League work in the same way as the Champions League.
There is a good deal of other football available to view on the various channels we have already mentioned. However, really hardcore footy fans would need to access Premier Sports to watch the Copa America, DAZN for certain FIFA Club World Cup games (another competition with multiple broadcasters), Disney+ for the Women’s Champions League, Canal Goat for certain South American competitions and even more niche channels for various others.
Of course, TV companies and the clubs would argue that in the past you just would not be able to watch these competitions, so even this complex web of broadcasters is better than nothing.
Channels for Sports Other Than Football
If you have access to Amazon, plus the two main sports channels above, you will also be able to watch a massive selection of other sports. The various Sky Sports and TNT channels, as well as the primary UK free to air channels, mean fans of golf, Formula 1, cricket, rugby league, rugby union, tennis, darts and snooker can watch all the biggest events from their favourite disciplines.
Those channels also broadcast tournaments, competitions and races from many other sports too, including the big US ones. Probably the biggest sport that would really require a separate subscription is boxing.
DAZN for Boxing
DAZN is the leading boxing broadcaster in the UK, working with the major promoters, Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy and others. DAZN’s best package, which includes some PPV events too, costs £25 per month. This is a must for fans of boxing, but also includes other highlights, such as National League and Serie A football, certain college sports from the US and a selection of other sports too.
Racing TV For Horses
Horse racing is another area where real enthusiasts might want another subscription. ITV and Sky Sports Racing offer wide-ranging coverage, but adding Racing TV into the mix would allow punters to see action from all British courses and some in Ireland too. The cheapest package for this is a hefty £298 per year, however.
Netflix, Premier Sports & Disney+ For the Rest
Beyond these major sports channels in the UK, other providers include Netflix, Premier Sports, Disney+ and certain sport- or league-specific channels. Again, costs vary, but one might expect to pay around £40 per month for the three named channels. Of course, Netflix and Disney+ in particular would provide far more than just sport within the same package.
Ultimately, we live in a world where monthly subscriptions are the norm. By and large, fans are prepared to pay what amounts to a relatively small fee, when averaged out, to watch the events they love. Football fans are perhaps hardest hit, requiring, for now at least, three separate subscriptions just to watch the main competitions. But then someone has to pay for the players’ Ferraris!
Every Game, Match and Event for One Small Fee?
Of course, there is a simple solution to all this. As many in the UK do, one could opt to use a “dodgy box”, also known as “one of those dodgy sticks” or perhaps a “jailbroken” (or “fully-loaded”) Fire Stick. These internet protocol TV devices can offer viewers pretty much every single sports channel from around the world, including pay-per-view events, as well as films and other programmers.
Of course, selling these devices is illegal, and people have been heavily fined and even jailed, but owning them is apparently not (at the time of writing, at least). It is, though, illegal to access copyrighted content without the relevant permissions, though this is rather a grey area and few users have ever been prosecuted.
Those who use these devices claim they do so because it is impossible to view the games they want to watch, it is unreasonable to subscribe to so many channels, or that the prices being charged are too high. Whether they are justifying this to themselves or others is hard to know, but ultimately, watching such content is against the law. Moreover, there is a moral issue, because with such sticks costing between £30 and £100 a year, they are far too cheap to sustain the current sports TV infrastructure if everyone opted to use them.