Timeline of Sky Sports facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Sky Sports is a very popular TV channel in the UK and Ireland. It shows lots of live sports, like football, cricket, Formula 1, and many others! This timeline tells the story of how Sky Sports grew from its beginnings to become the big sports channel it is today.

The History of Sky Sports: A Timeline
- The Early Years: 1980s and 1990s
  - 1989
  - 1990
  - 1991
  - 1992
  - 1993
  - 1994
  - 1995
  - 1996
  - 1997
  - 1998
  - 1999
- The 2000s: A New Millennium
  - 2000
  - 2001
  - 2002
  - 2003
  - 2004
  - 2005
  - 2006
  - 2007
  - 2008
  - 2009
- The 2010s: New Channels and Changes
  - 2010
  - 2011
  - 2012
  - 2013
  - 2014
  - 2015
  - 2016
  - 2017
  - 2018
  - 2019
- The 2020s: Recent Developments
  - 2020
  - 2021
  - 2022
  - 2023
See also

The History of Sky Sports: A Timeline

The Early Years: 1980s and 1990s

1989

February 5 – Sky Television starts broadcasting. It includes a sports channel called Eurosport, which shows sports across Europe.

1990

January–March – Sky One shows live cricket matches from England's tour in the West Indies. This was the first time a full overseas cricket tour was shown live in the UK.
February 11 – Sky Movies shows a big boxing match: Mike Tyson against Buster Douglas. Sky Movies showed all major boxing fights until Sky Sports became a paid channel in 1992.
March 27 – BSB launches its own sports channel called The Sports Channel.
November 2 – Sky TV and BSB join together to form a new company called BSkyB. The Sports Channel continues to broadcast.

1991

January – The Sports Channel broadcasts its first big tennis event, the Australian Open. It showed this tournament until 1994.
April 20 – Sky Sports officially launches, taking over from BSB's Sports Channel.
Spring – Sky Sports shows live games from the new World League of American Football.
July 14–25 – Sky Sports broadcasts all the live action from the 1991 World Student Games, which were held in the UK. This was the only time Sky has shown a multi-sport event like this.
August 26 – Sky begins showing the US Open (tennis) tournament. Sky continued to show this event for many years, until 2015.

1992

February 22–March 25 – Sky broadcasts its first major cricket tournament: the 1992 Cricket World Cup. This was the start of Sky's long history of showing this event, making it one of their longest-running sports rights.
May 18 – Sky buys the rights to show live matches from the new Premier League football for £304 million.
August 15 – Sky Sports launches Sports Saturday. This show was like the BBC's Grandstand, mixing different sports with football results at the end.
August 16 – To celebrate the start of Premier League coverage, Sky Sports launches Super Sunday. This show was the first to use a score bug, which is a small graphic on screen showing the score. Other channels soon started using them too.
August 17 – Monday Night Football starts on Sky Sports. This was the first time domestic football was shown in the UK on Monday evenings.
August 31 – Sky Sports broadcasts World Wrestling Federation's SummerSlam '92 in full. This was the first time a full WWF event was shown in the UK.
September 1 – Sky Sports becomes a channel you have to pay for.
Sky signs a deal with the new World Darts Council (now called the Professional Darts Corporation or PDC) to show three of their tournaments.

1993

Sky stops showing tournaments from the BDO after a split in the darts world.
Sky begins showing live coverage of US PGA Golf.
December 26 – Sky Sports broadcasts the first PDC World Darts Championship. They have shown this event every year since.

1994

Sky Sports shows a home cricket one-day international match for the first time.
Mid-1994 – Sky Sports gets the rights to show boxing fights promoted by Barry Hearn.
August 1–8 – Sky Sports broadcasts the first World Matchplay (darts). Sky still shows this event today.
August 19 – Sky Sports 2 launches. At first, it only broadcasts on weekends.
August 20 – The first episode of Soccer AM, a Saturday morning football comedy and talk show, is broadcast.

1995

January – Sky Sports gets the rights to show Frank Warren's Sports Network fights.
April 8 – The World League of American Football returns, with live coverage on Sky Sports.
September –

* Sky starts showing a weekly game from England's top club rugby union division. This was the first time a live domestic rugby union match was shown in the UK. * Sky Sports begins showing a weekly game from the British Basketball League. * Sky Sports starts showing coverage from the NFL.

September 22–24 – Sky Sports becomes the only channel to broadcast golf's Ryder Cup live. They have shown it exclusively live ever since.
November 1 – Sky Sports Gold launches. It broadcasts for three hours a night, three nights a week.

1996

March 16 – The boxing match between Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson is the UK's first pay-per-view event.
June – Sky Sports increases its coverage of women's sports, showing women's cricket and women's golf for the first time.
August 16 –

* Sky Sports 3 launches. This new channel shows the Football League and the Scottish Premier League. This was the first time the SPL was shown across the UK. The channel broadcasts from midday until midnight. * Sky Sports is renamed Sky Sports 1. * Sky Sports Gold closes.

October 26 – Sky's coverage of Major League Baseball ends after four years.
November – Sky Sports begins showing live coverage of the England national rugby union team, taking over from the BBC.

1997

May 24 – Sky Sports becomes the broadcaster for the British and Irish Lions, showing full live coverage of their tour to South Africa.
September 1 – Sky Sports 2 starts broadcasting all day.
October 28 – Sky Sports takes over as broadcaster of greyhound racing's TV Trophy.

1998

February – Sky Sports broadcasts matches from the Six Nations rugby for the first time.
August 15 – On the first day of the new football season, the first Soccer Saturday is broadcast. This show provides football scores and results all afternoon, replacing Sports Saturday.
October 1 – Sky Digital launches, and with it, the UK's first 24-hour sports news channel, Sky Sports News.
November 15 – Rival digital TV service OnDigital launches. Some Sky Sports channels (Sky Sports 1 and 3, later 2) are available on this service.

1999

April – Sky Sports launches its interactive service, Sky Sports Active.
Sky Sports broadcasts a home cricket Test Match live for the first time, sharing the deal with Channel 4.
August 22 – Sky Sports Xtra launches, mainly as an interactive service.
Sunday Supplement launches, a Sunday morning show discussing the previous day's football.
Sky Sports increases its coverage of greyhound racing, showing major events on Tuesday nights.

The 2000s: A New Millennium

2000

April 10 – Sky Sports News is renamed Sky Sports.com TV.
Goals on Sunday launches.
October – Sky Sports covers the Rugby League World Cup for the first time, sharing rights with the BBC.

2001

Sky's exclusive live coverage of the England football team ends.
May – Sky loses the rights to the British Basketball League to ITV.
July 1 – The Sky Sports.com TV name is dropped, and the channel goes back to being called Sky Sports News.
August 18 – PremPlus launches. This channel is for Sky's pay-per-view football matches.

2002

March 1 – F1 Digital+ launches. It offers special multi-screen coverage of Formula One for an extra fee.
May – Sky Sports' coverage of the Scottish Premier League ends.
July 4–7 – Sky Sports shows the first new overseas darts tournament, the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
August – Coverage of the Football League returns to Sky Sports after one season with ITV.
Sky Sports takes over as broadcaster of tennis’ ATP tour.
October 30 – Sky Sports News starts broadcasting on the new Freeview platform.
December 12 – After only one season, F1 Digital+ closes.

2003

May 30–June 3 – Sky Sports shows the first darts' UK Open. Sky continued to show this event until 2013.
Sky Sports shows games from the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
October 22 – Sky becomes the new broadcaster of rugby union's European clubs tournament, the Heineken Cup.

2004

June 11 – At the Races relaunches as its own channel.
August – Football First launches. This program lets viewers choose which game they want to watch.

2005

January 8 – Premier League Snooker relaunches with Sky Sports as the broadcaster.
January 20 – Sky Sports shows the first night of a new darts tournament, Premier League Darts. Sky still shows this event today.

2006

Sky Sports becomes the only broadcaster of all live cricket matches in the UK.
May – The first Cricket AM is broadcast on Sky Sports and Sky One. It's like Soccer AM but for cricket.
May 22 – Sky launches its high-definition (HD) service, with Sky One HD and Sky Sports 1 HD starting to broadcast.
July – Sky Sports 2HD launches.
August – The European Union asks for the 2007 football contract to be split up. Sky wins four of the six packages, and Setanta Sports takes the other two.
Sky starts showing a weekly ice hockey game from the Elite Ice Hockey League.
December – Sky's 13 years of covering golf's PGA Tour ends.

2007

May 6 – PremPlus closes.
May – After 15 seasons, Monday Night Football ends its first run because Sky loses the rights to Monday evening Premier League matches.

2008

March 17 – Sky Sports 3HD launches.
May 17 – Sky Sports shows FA Cup football for the last time.
September 6 – Sky Sports gets the rights to Frank Warren's Sports Network boxing from ITV.
November 22 – Sky Sports' coverage of the Rugby League World Cup ends.

2009

Sky's coverage of the top division of England club rugby ends.

The 2010s: New Channels and Changes

2010

January 6 – Sky Sports Xtra is renamed Sky Sports 4.
January – Sky Sports gets the rights to golf's PGA Tour back.
April 3 – Sky 3D launches. The first event shown in 3D is a football match.
April 29 – Sky Sports 4HD launches.
June – Sky Sports Radio launches.
August – Monday Night Football returns after Sky gets the rights to Monday night Premier League games back.
August 23 – Sky Sports News stops broadcasting on Freeview, and an HD version of the channel launches.
The British Basketball League returns to Sky Sports after a 9-year break.

2011

January 28–30 – Sky Sports broadcasts the first Snooker Shoot Out.
April 7–10 – Sky Sports shows coverage of golf's Masters Tournament for the first time.

2012

March 9 – Sky Sports F1 launches. This is Sky's first channel dedicated to just one sport, showing every Formula One race.
Sky Sports increases its motorsport coverage, showing FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship on Sky Sports F1.
Sky Sports broadcasts games from rugby league's Challenge Cup for the first time.
August 7 – Sky Sports broadcasts the FA Community Shield for the last time.
Sky Sports stops showing FIM World Speedway due to low viewing figures.

2013

June 6–9 – Sky Sports broadcasts darts' UK Open for the final time.
June 30 – Sky Sports launches its first temporary channel, Sky Sports Ashes, for full coverage of the 2013 Ashes Series in cricket.
August – Cricket AM is broadcast for the final time.

2014

April 2 – Sky Sports signs a deal with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to broadcast matches from both the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
August 12 –

* Sky Sports 5 launches, mainly to show European football. * Sky Sports News is rebranded Sky Sports News HQ.

September – Sky Sports News Radio closes.
Sky loses the rights to darts’ UK Open to ITV.

2015

February – Sky Sports takes over as broadcaster of cricket's Indian Premier League.
June 6 – Sky Sports' broadcasting of the UEFA Champions League ends after 12 seasons.
June 9 – Sky 3D closes as a regular channel.
Sky Sports gets live coverage of every NFL game during the season for the first time.
September – Sky Sports shows coverage of the US Open (tennis) for the final time.
November – The final episode of rugby league magazine Boots 'N' All is broadcast after 20 seasons.
Sky starts showing live coverage of Major League Soccer.

2016

August 13 – Sky Sports broadcasts its first event in UHD (super clear TV).
August 24 – Sky Sports Mix launches. This channel is available to all Sky customers, letting them see some Sky Sports content even if they don't pay for the full sports package.
BT Sport takes over from Sky Sports as broadcaster of Australia's home matches.
November 27 – Sky Sports announces a deal to show lots of netball on TV, including on its free channel Sky Sports Mix.
After more than 20 years, Sky's coverage of British Speedway ends.

2017

July 18 – Sky Sports changes its channels. The numbered channels are replaced by channels for specific sports, like two football channels, a cricket channel, and a golf channel. Other sports move to new channels called Action and Arena. A main channel, Sky Sports Main Event, launches to show the top events. Sky Sports News also drops the HQ label.
August 3–6 – Sky Sports replaces the BBC as the live broadcaster of golf's Women's British Open.
August 10–September 1 – Sky Sports broadcasts eight live matches from the 2017 Women's Cricket Super League. This was Sky’s first big step into women’s cricket.
Sky shows five matches a season from the NIFL Premiership football league.

2018

February 14 – BT and Sky agree to a £4.4 billion deal to show live Premier League football matches from 2019 to 2022.
May 12 – Sky's coverage of the European Rugby Champions Cup ends after 15 years.
May – Sky's 20+ years of coverage of La Liga football ends.
August 8 – Sky Sports takes over from BT Sport as broadcaster of cricket's Caribbean Premier League.
September 6 – Sky Sports becomes the only broadcaster of football's new UEFA Nations League tournament, except for England's home matches.
September – Sky Sports starts covering the NBA again after ten years.
December – Sky Sports ends its coverage of tennis after more than 25 years.

2019

January 1 – Sky Sports Racing launches, replacing At The Races.
January – Basketball's NBA returns to Sky Sports.
February – Sky Sports announces a deal with Bellator MMA to broadcast mixed martial arts events.
March 17 – Sky Sports becomes the only broadcaster of all Formula One races, except for the British Grand Prix.
June 20 – U.S. professional wrestling company WWE announces its shows will move to BT Sport in 2020, ending a long relationship with Sky.

The 2020s: Recent Developments

2020

June – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Premier League announces that all remaining matches will be shown on British television. Sky airs 25 of these matches for free on Pick.
August 1 – Sky Sports becomes the only broadcaster of live coverage of the Scottish Professional Football League.
August 6 – Sky announces that Sunday Supplement will not return for the new season.
September 3 – Sky Sports NFL launches. This channel is a temporary rebrand of Sky Sports Action and provides 24/7 coverage of the NFL.
September 8 – All September Premier League games are shown on TV because fans can't be in stadiums.
October 9 – The Premier League announces that games not already scheduled for TV will be shown on a pay-per-view basis on either Sky Sports Box Office or BT Sport Box Office.
November 13 – The Premier League confirms that pay-per-view matches will end. All games in December and January will be shown by Sky Sports and BT Sport.
December 3 – The British Basketball League returns to Sky Sports, with 30 games per season. Sky also starts broadcasting matches from the Women's British Basketball League.

2021

April – Sky begins showing Extreme E motor racing.
May 7 – Sky Sports ends a decade of coverage of the Challenge Cup rugby league.
May 13 – The Premier League announces that its next three-year broadcasting contract has been awarded without a bidding process. Sky Sports pays the same amount for the same packages.
June –

* After more than 25 years, boxing fights promoted by Matchroom Sport stop being shown on Sky Sports. * Sky announces two new boxing contracts: with Top Rank for American and international boxing, and with BOXXER in the UK.

August 13 – Sky Sports replaces BT Sport as broadcaster of Germany's Bundesliga football and Supercup.
September 3 – Sky Sports replaces BT Sport as the pay-TV broadcast partner of the FA Women's Super League. Sky will show 44 games per season, with some matches also on Sky One.

2022

January 9–February 6 – Sky Sports and the BBC share coverage of the African Cup of Nations football tournament.
March – Sky Sports' coverage of the UEFA Nations League ends.
July 27 – Sky Sports launches a UHD channel for Sky Sports Main Event.
September – Sky Sports begins showing coverage of Notre Dame home matches. This is the first time Sky Sports has shown live coverage of the NCAA (college sports).
October 24 – Sky Sports and the GAA agree to end their broadcast partnership after nine years.

2023

January 10 – Sky Sports begins showing South Africa’s new T20 cricket league.
May 27 – Soccer AM ends after 28 years.
August 28 – Sky Sports returns to broadcasting tennis, starting a new five-year deal to show the US Open.