Sky Sports and BT Sport packages

With the division of the Premier League across both Sky Sports and BT Sport it can be hard to pick one over the other.

Added to that, Sky Sports have exclusive rights of Formula One, while BT Sport has exclusivity of UEFA Champions League, and coverage of Premiership Rugby.

Taking Sky Sports and BT Sport together ensures customers don't miss out, and this guide will reveal who offers the cheapest Sky Sports and BT Sport package.

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BT Sport is now TNT Sports

In July 2023, the BT Sport channels rebranded to TNT Sports under a joint partnership between BT and Warner Bros. Discovery.

However, all of the content rights and sporting fixtures on BT Sport will remain the same on TNT Sports, and prices for the channel pack have stayed largely similar.

It's still possible to watch TNT Sports in a bundle with Sky Sports through Sky, Virgin Media, and BT, which we'll explore in more detail throughout this guide.

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At a glance: Sky Sports and BT Sport offers

For new customers signing up to a TV and broadband bundle for the first time, it's possible to find special offers on Sky Sports and BT Sport packages. Here are some of the best offers available right now.

Virgin Media:
Get 10% back on subscriptions + £50 to £65 bill credit

Virgin Media broadband customers who take Stream TV can subscribe to both Sky Sports and BT Sport on the platform, and they'll get a 10% credit back on both packs.

Sky Sports is currently just £18.75 per month, and BT Sport (or TNT Sports) is just £10 per month. With the 10% bill credit offer this brings the price down to £16.88 and £9 per month respectively, or £25.88 per month together.

This makes Virgin Media Stream one of the cheapest places to watch both Sky Sports and BT Sport channels.

In addition, new Virgin Media broadband customers can also get a £50 to £65 bill credit when they sign up through this site:

Sky TV:
Save £18 per month on Sky TV with Sky Sports and BT Sport

New Sky TV customers can get Sky Stream with £5 off per month, plus £7 off Sky Sports, and a further £6 off BT Sport (TNT Sports), over the length of the 18-month contract. These offers total a saving of £18 off per month for 18 months, or £324 over the length of the contract.

It's also possible to get free setup with both Sky Stream TV on its own, and when customers bundle Sky broadband.

Here are the latest Sky TV and broadband bundles with Sky Sports and BT Sport:

BT TV:
Get a £100 Reward Card

New BT broadband customers can get a £100 Reward Card to spend anywhere MasterCard is accepted when they sign up through this site for a Fibre 2 package before 7th December 2023.

BT broadband customers can then add BT TV at the checkout and bundle Sky Sports and BT Sport in the Big Sport package.

Here is the Sky Sport and BT Sport package from BT:

Sky Sports and BT Sport packages

As well as looking at the latest special offers, we can also compare Sky Sports and BT Sport packages by price.

Here are three of the cheapest packages with both Sky Sports and TNT Sports (was BT Sport) packs from Virgin Media, Sky, and BT.

Virgin Media has the cheapest Sky Sports and BT Sport package with their new Stream TV service, and both channel packs are included in full 1080p HD. Virgin Media also include the BT Sport Ultimate channel as standard, whereas this is a paid extra for both BT and Sky.

For customers who want more TV, the Bigger Bundle + Sports HD is the next best option from Virgin Media, with the TV 360 box and 190 other channels. Sky Sports is provided in full 1080p HD as the channels were recently upgraded for all customers. However, customers now need to add the TNT Sports Collection pack separately, at an additional cost of £18 per month, pushing this deal beyond both Sky and BT for price.

BT TV is currently cheaper than Sky for new customers, but only includes Sky Sports and BT Sport in SD, with customers having to pay an extra £6 per month for full HD.

Sky TV includes both the Sky Sports and BT Sport packs in full 1080p HD as standard. Customers also get Sky Entertainment and a subscription to Netflix included in the monthly price. Sky customers can upgrade to the Ultra HD pack for £6 per month for sports events in 4K on both Sky Sports and BT Sport channels.

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Which TV package is best?

There are multiple ways to get Sky Sports and BT Sport together in one package, and customers can choose from deals with Sky, Virgin Media, or BT.

But each provider offers a slightly different deal, and prices vary, so let's take a look at what's on offer and how much it costs to watch Sky Sports with TNT Sports, the new name for BT Sport.

Picking the right Sky Sports and BT Sport package will come down to budget, viewing quality, and whether you want to be able to pause and rewind live coverage.

Price

Here are the current cheapest ways to watch Sky Sports with BT Sport from each of the three pay TV providers:

Virgin Media offer the cheapest way to get Sky Sports and BT Sport together, with their new Stream service, which can be taken with Virgin broadband. It's over £20 cheaper than deals on Sky and BT.

The downside is customers will get no more than these sports channels, other than Freeview. Whereas Sky offers over 150 live channels with their plan, as well as Netflix.

For customers who want more TV, they can add the Entertainment Essentials add-on to Stream for an extra £8 per month, or opt for the Virgin Media Bigger Bundle + Sports HD. However, as of September 2023, this bundle no longer includes TNT Sports, and instead customers will have to pay an extra £18 per month to get both Sky Sports and BT Sport in one plan.

TV pack features

Choosing whether to take Sky Sports and BT Sport from Virgin Media, Sky or BT may come down to the different viewing features they offer, as well as the viewing quality, which we look at below.

Here are the main differing features between each provider:

The main benefit to BT TV is that the NOW Sports Membership is integrated into the BT Guide and the BT TV Box Pro, which means unlike with NOW, customers can pause and rewind live sports viewing, as well as record programmes.

Sky and Virgin Media also both offer the ability to pause and rewind live TV with the Sky Q and Virgin TV 360 boxes.

Customers who take the newer Stream services from Sky and Virgin Media can also pause and rewind live TV, and they can save programmes to the cloud to watch later.

For watching on the go, Sky Sports can be accessed through the Sky Sports app for BT and Virgin Media customers, and through Sky Go for Sky customers.

BT Sport can be watched on devices outside the home by downloading the Discovery+ app, or Virgin Media customers can watch through the Virgin TV Go app.

The sports bundles listed above also all include Eurosport 1 and 2 from each of the main providers.

In terms of other non-sports channels, Virgin Media, Sky and BT all offer similar levels of coverage. For example, it's possible to get Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema, and Netflix from each of the services.

Virgin Media doesn't have access to Sky Atlantic, but Sky TV does and so too does BT through their NOW TV Memberships.

Sky also include Paramount+ in their Sky Cinema pack, but Virgin Media customers have to pay for each add-on separately, with Paramount+ costing around £6.99 per month.

Finally, Sky and BT customers both get free access to Discovery+ basic included in all TV plans. But this isn't included with Virgin Media. Discovery+ basic includes streaming and on-demand programmes on Animal Planet, Discovery, Discovery History, Discovery Science, DMAX, Food Network, HGTV, ID, Quest, Quest Red, TLC, and Turbo.

HD

There are differences between the providers when we want to take Sky Sports and BT Sport packs in HD.

Here's an overview of the default viewing quality of the sports packs from each provider, and the related cost to upgrade to 1080p HD.

Sky includes Sky Sports and BT Sport packs in 1080p HD as standard, so customers don't have to pay extra to get high definition viewing.

Virgin Media include the BT Sport and Sky Sports packs in HD, and also bundle the BT Sport Ultimate 4K channel as standard too.

BT conversely only include the BT Sport pack in SD as standard, and the Sky Sports pack through NOW TV is included at 720p HD as standard. Customers can boost both packs to full 1080p HD for an extra £6 per month.

Ultra HD

Anyone who has a 4K or 4K HDR compatible TV set might want to experience their sports viewing in Ultra HD.

Both Sky and Virgin Media now offer the ability to watch some Sky Sports and BT Sport content in Ultra HD, with Sky gaining access to BT Sport Ultimate in November 2022, and Virgin Media announcing access to Sky Sports Ultra HD in February 2023.

Here's how much the 4K upgrades cost:

Virgin Media include the BT Sport Ultimate channel as standard in their TNT Sports Collection add-on both TV 360 and Stream.

Virgin customers can also now upgrade to Sky Sports Ultra HD for an extra £7 per month, if they have a Sky Sports HD subscription. Big Bundle customers for example who've added Sky Sports in SD will have to pay £14.

Sky TV customers can add their Ultra HD pack for £6 per month with Stream. The Ultra HD pack includes both Sky Sports Ultra HD and BT Sport Ultimate, along with boosting other Sky content to HD and UHD where available.

Premium packages

While it's possible to upgrade basic and mid-range bundles from the providers to include more content or higher definition viewing, these extras are often included as standard in their premium packages.

Here's how much the top-end Sky Sports and BT Sport packages cost:

Current offers available to new customers at the time of writing put Sky and Virgin Media almost neck and neck on price, although Virgin Media offer faster download speeds and more content overall.

Sky's premium plan comes with Sky Sports and BT Sport in HD, as well as Sky Entertainment and Netflix. Customers can add Sky Cinema with Paramount+ for just £8 per month extra, and the Ultra HD pack for both Sky Sports and BT Sport currently costs £6 per month. Sky offer a range of broadband options with superfast to gigafast speeds.

Virgin Media Mega Volt (was Ultimate Volt) is the next cheapest premium Sky Sports and BT Sport package at £88 per month with the TNT Sports Collection added. It also bundles Sky Cinema, Sky Entertainment, Netflix, and comes with ultrafast broadband offering 516Mbps average download speeds. Sky Sports in UHD can be added for an extra £7 a month.

BT's VIP TV package includes Sky Sports and BT Sport in full 1080p HD, it also bundles BT Sport Ultimate in 4K Ultra HD, along with Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema, and Netflix Standard. We've included their Full Fibre 100 plan with 150Mbps average download speeds, but customers can upgrade to faster 500Mbps and 900Mbps plans.

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Sky Sports vs BT Sport

Sky Sports and BT Sport provide different coverage to each other, meaning customers who want to be able to watch the Premier League will need both Sky Sports and BT Sport.

BT Sport channels

The BT Sport pack offers four main channels, which are:

• BT Sport 1
• BT Sport 2
• BT Sport 3
• BT Sport 4

Customers who upgrade to an Ultra HD pack also get:

• BT Sport Ultimate in 4K

Sky Sports channels

The Sky Sports pack offers eleven channels in total, including:

• Sky Sports Main Event
• Sky Sports Premier League
• Sky Sports Football
• Sky Sports Cricket
• Sky Sports Golf
• Sky Sports F1
• Sky Sports Arena
• Sky Sports NFL
• Sky Sports News
• Sky Sports Mix
• Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing is included in the base TV packages with Sky and Virgin Media, and Sky also include Sky Sports News and Sky Sports Mix in their base TV pack.

Fixtures

While Sky have the most Premier League matches, with 128 games, BT Sport has 52, and Amazon Prime has the remaining 20 games.

There are also differences in some sports or leagues being exclusive to Sky Sports or BT Sport, including Formula One which is only on Sky Sports, and the Champions League which is exclusive to BT Sport.

Here's a full run down of what's on Sky Sports and BT Sport and how they differ:

While Sky Sports has wider coverage with more sporting events and leagues, BT Sport also has some exclusives that make it hard to miss, including UEFA Champions League, Rugby Premiership and 52 Premier League games.

There are even more sports viewing available through additional channels including Eurosport, Amazon Prime, Freeview, Premier Sport and BoxNation.

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Other providers

We've covered watching Sky Sports and BT Sport on Sky, Virgin Media and BT in this guide, but there are two further options for sports viewing.

TalkTalk broadband customers can bundle TalkTalk TV, and the provider offers access to Sky Sports via NOW TV Memberships, and they can also access TNT Sports on the Discovery+ app through the 4K box set included.

NOW TV Memberships can also be taken out directly or bundled with NOW Broadband for further savings. However, while this includes access to Sky Sports, it doesn't have the BT Sport pack.

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Summary: Sky Sports vs BT Sport

Sky Sports vs BT Sport is a tough decision, and its arguably easier to just bundle both packages in one TV service so you don't miss out on any matches or fixtures.

Bundling also saves money, with Sky reducing the price of BT Sport by £3 per month for customers who also take Sky Sports.

Overall, Virgin Media offer the cheapest Sky Sports and BT Sport package with Stream, while also rivalling Sky for features and extras, including recently adding the option for customers to watch Sky Sports Ultra HD, although this is limited to their pre-made bundles on the TV 360 service.

Sky, Virgin Media Stream, and BT TV also offer the most flexible way to get Sky Sports and BT Sport together, with the providers allowing customers to switch TV packs on a monthly basis depending on sporting fixtures or financial budgets.

Find out the cheapest ways to get Sky Sports, and how to watch BT Sport.