The mass postponements and cancellations of global sporting events due to the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically reduced the amount of live sport on the box over the coming weeks and months.
It has left a huge gap in all UK sports broadcasters’ schedules over the coming weeks, with many of these being filled by match replays, archive content and documentaries, a line-up which looks set to become the norm as more sports and governing bodies postpone forthcoming events in a bid to suppress the outbreak.
Many pay-TV customers are looking to pause subscriptions to their sports packages, as a number of events across a range of sports have been suspended due to the spread of Covid-19.
With live televised sport set to absent from our screens over the coming weeks and months, Sport On The Box presents a rundown of what the major pay-TV sports broadcasters in the UK are doing to help customers manage their subscriptions during this period (as of Saturday, 28 March).
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Sky Sports is providing customers with an option to pause subscriptions to its sports packages without charge.
Many of Sky’s live events have been affected, including Premier League, EFL and Scottish football, as well as cricket, Formula 1 and golf, with only US and Australian horse racing its only live sport on offer.
Customers can choose to pause their subscription by contacting Sky, either by telephone – 0800 151 2747 – or via its website – sky.com/pausesports.
During this period, all Sky Sports channels that customers have subscriptions to, plus any past recordings, will remain available to watch.
Customers will not be charged a fee to pause their account, with all payments to sports packages paused until the sporting action resumes, and they will not be held to any notice period.
As soon as the action resumes, Sky says it will “reinstate your Sports subscription. You don’t need to do anything”.
Due to the high demand for this service, Sky Sports subscribers have been warned to expect a delay using both methods, with the online wait significantly shorter than calling Sky by telephone.
In a statement, Sky Sports managing director, Rob Webster, said:
“Sky Sports is working closely with all our partners to better understand the impact on the annual sporting calendar.
“We recognise that it is a fast-moving situation and we are working at speed to ensure we continue to deliver for all of our customers.
“A number of sporting events have been postponed, but not cancelled, so we expect to be able to show these when they are rescheduled.
“Therefore, our live schedule is likely to look different for a period of time. As more information becomes available, we will continue to provide updates to all of our customers.”
Sky Sports News is continuing to broadcast up-to-the-minute news and information on the effects of coronavirus on the sporting world, as well as special daily debate programmes, featuring Sky Sports’ leading pundits including Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, while its family of sports channels are showing replays of classic action, features and documentaries.
BT Sport has also been severely disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak and has worked revised schedule with special editions of some of its flagship programmes.
Its schedules are mainly being filled with event replays, match highlights and documentaries, as well as special editions of Scottish Football Extra and Early Kick-off, as well as daily themed content from its football, rugby union and MotoGP archives.
As of 28 March, BT Sport is giving customers the following options:
- Donate the cost of one month’s BT Sport to support NHS staff via the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal.
- Get a bill credit for one month of BT Sport, which will be deducted off the next bill
- Customers with BT fibre broadband can get BT Sport free for three months when they take out an Entertainment TV package (£10 per month, 24 month contract)
Further details about these options can be found via BT’s website – bt.com/sportsupport.
In an updated statement on its website, BT said:
“We would like to thank BT Sport customers for bearing with us through these challenging times. Our focus has been on maintaining the quality and resilience of our broadband, landline and mobile networks for the nation and our customer focus has been with the elderly and most vulnerable.
“In this time we’ve introduced a number of measures to support the Government, emergency services and our customers, including the removal of broadband usage caps, capping landline calls and providing free access to NHS online and 111.
“With it looking increasingly unlikely that live sport will return to our screens for some time we have been working through the impact that this has on the BT Sport schedule, our business and our customers. We continue to work closely with the leagues and still hope to be able to broadcast the remainder of the competitions as they are rescheduled over the coming months.
“However, we recognise there is much uncertainty which remains out of our control, and as such BT Sport customers can now go to www.bt.com/sportsupport to get a bill credit for one month of BT Sport, or, choose for BT to donate that credit back to the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Urgent Appeal.
“We will continue to review the situation over the coming weeks and will update customers accordingly. We would also ask customers to please bear with us and not call us unless absolutely urgent, as our call centres are facing significant pressure, with fewer people, and are focused on supporting the most vulnerable. Instead customers can use their MyBT online account, or the BT App for any other queries.”
BT are currently not providing an option for customers on fixed TV sports packages to pause their subscriptions, in a similar way to Sky or Virgin Media, though customers on its flexible TV packages can pause their sports subscription if they wish.
For further information, visit BT’s dedicated coronavirus website – bt.com/coronvirus.
Virgin Media has confirmed that it is now enabling its customers to pause their Sky Sports subscriptions.
The cable TV firm have joined in with Sky’s initiative, with customers still able to watch Sky Sports programming throughout this period without being charged.
To pause your Virgin Media Sky Sports subscription go to virginmedia.com/pauseskysports.
Eurosport’s live sporting schedule has also been completely wiped out during this period and has responded by not charging cutsomers for its streaming service – Eurosport Player – for at least the next month.
Its two UK channels are showing a mixture of themed sporting highlights, such as repeats of classic cycling races, as well as replays of some of its biggest events from the 12 months.
In a statement, the broadcaster said:
“Ensuring our customers experience the best service and coverage is of the utmost importance to us. We are very conscious to take actions that mean our customers receive value for money.
“In recognition that we are all going to be spending significant time at home over the next few weeks, we are aiming to make things easier for our customers.
“We will not charge this coming month’s Eurosport Player customer payments while we see how the situation evolves.
“And for our annual pass customers, we are giving an additional one month at no extra cost.”
Customers can get further information and make enquiries regarding their subscription via Eurosport Help website – eurosport.com/help – as well as on Twitter by its official support account – @EurosportCare.
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Premier Sports is also currently operating a schedule of event replays and highlights across its three channels.
Customers can enquire about their subscriptions via their website – premiersports.com/contact – as well as on Twitter by its official support account – @PremierTVHelp.
Premier Sports’ call centre is currently closed and they are advising Sky TV and Premier Player customers to manage their accounts online.
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Following the suspension of all UK and Irish horse racing, Racing TV is giving its customers the option to pause memberships until the sport resumes.
They can pause their monthly Racing TV subscription if they wish by contacting them on 0344 855 2977 or complete the form on its website – racing.tv.com/pause.
Customers that access Racing TV through their Virgin Media subscriptions should contact these operators directly.
In a statement on its website, Racing TV says:
“We very much value all of our subscribers and thank you for your continued support of the channel at this difficult time. Your membership helps support the racing industry, as 100% of our profits are returned to the sport.
“As such, we want to put the choice of how you continue your Racing TV membership in your hands. That’s why we are giving you two clear options at this point.
“Many of you have contacted us to say you’d like to continue to support Racing TV, in the knowledge that 100% of our profits go back to racing. If you would like to continue to pay your membership fee during this period of no live racing you do not need to do anything.
“You will continue to get full access to the channel and website where we will broadcast quality feature and review programming, as well as great races from our archives, so you can continue to enjoy all of the outstanding racing footage Racing TV has access to during this unprecedented period.
“If you do not want to take the option above you can pause your membership. This means you will not be charged at your next bill date. Billing will resume only once a full live racing programme returns.
“Please note that we are currently experiencing very high call volumes resulting in long waiting times, it is therefore advised that you use the online form if you wish to pause your membership.
“Whatever your choice, we thank you for your support of the channel and we sincerely hope we can bring you live racing again soon, as and when it is safe to do so.
“We will continue to communicate when the BHA or HRI issue further updates on when racing might resume via our website and on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.
Rachel Casey explains how the suspension of racing in Britain and Ireland affects your membership.
Thank you to everyone for your support of Racing TV in unprecedented circumstances. We'll be back to bring you the very best of live British and Irish racing as soon as we can. pic.twitter.com/Egg0V9YhZY
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 24, 2020
For a full overview of all major UK-televised sporting events that have been postponed, cancelled or rescheduled, as well as those which are still due to be staged, visit SOTB’s dedicated coronavirus webpage – sotb.in/coronavius.
For the very latest developments and up-to-date information on the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on sport, follow rolling live blogs on BBC Sport or Sky Sports.
