Sky Sports helped create the Premier League and reshaped British sport
In 1992 a satellite broadcaster bid 304 million pounds for exclusive live rights to a brand-new football competition, beating ITV and taking top-flight English league football off free television for the first time. The Premier League and Sky Sports grew up together, and British sport has been more commercial ever since.
The channel began as The Sports Channel on British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990, sharing airtime with a computing channel because it broadcast only part-time. After BSB merged with Sky that November, it was renamed Sky Sports on 20 April 1991, initially showing rugby, golf and German and Italian football. It became a monthly subscription channel on 1 September 1992 with the new Premier League rights, and Sky is credited with encouraging the old First Division to break away in the first place.
Expansion was steady. A second channel arrived in 1994, a third in 1996 to carry Football League and Scottish rights, and rolling Sky Sports News came with the digital platform in 1998. In August 1999 an Arsenal against Manchester United match launched interactive coverage offering extra statistics, alternative camera angles and replays.
Formula One followed in 2012 with a dedicated channel, and from 2019 Sky became the exclusive live broadcaster of every race except the British Grand Prix. In July 2017 the numbered channels were replaced by ones named for their sports, such as cricket, golf and Premier League, and viewers could buy up to three individually. Temporary rebrands mark big events: Sky Sports Ashes, Sky Sports Ryder Cup and Sky Sports Darts for the world championship.
Corporate ties now stretch across the Atlantic. After Comcast bought Sky, American network NBC began sharing Premier League studio shows and presentation with its British sibling. In 2023 Sky renewed English Football League rights through 2028–29 for 935 million pounds, and in 2024 launched Sky Sports+, a streaming service able to run up to 100 programmes simultaneously.
Source: Sky Sports
