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Sky Sports vs TNT Sports: Which Is Worth Your Money?

Sky Sports or TNT Sports? If you can only afford one, the choice comes down to the sports you love most. Here is my honest take as a fan who pays for Sky out of his own pocket, covering football, cricket, Formula One and boxing, plus why some sport stays free on the BBC and ITV, and why boxing’s pay-per-view model needs fixing.

What Are the “Crown Jewels” of Sport?

Why do you still get some sport on the BBC and ITV? Because of the “crown jewels”: the premium events such as the FA Cup Final, the World Cup, the European Championship and the Wimbledon finals. These are protected so that people who can’t afford a sports subscription can still watch them, and they are shown to the nation free-to-air on terrestrial TV.

Everything outside that list is fair game for the subscription channels, which is where Sky Sports and TNT Sports come in.

Why Sky Sports and TNT Sports Charge What They Do

To anyone who complains that sport costs the earth: think back to the days before Sky Sports existed. The terrestrial channels are there to look after everybody, so they can’t become dedicated sports channels. But some of us want far more football, whether that’s the Premier League, the Championship and the rest, or the WSL.

If the BBC and ITV poured the same resources into sport, their other programmes would suffer and angry people from Tunbridge Wells would be writing in to complain. You can’t please everyone, which is exactly why Sky Sports and TNT exist: they’re businesses serving the people who are most passionate about sport, and the price reflects that.

Terrestrial TV still hits the target when something captures everyone’s imagination, like Christmas night when Smithy finally proposed to Nessa on Gavin and Stacey. But most of us now watch through streaming, and increasingly YouTube. The BBC and the other big channels of my youth will survive the end of the old terrestrial model and keep making quality drama, partly because they’ve already built the lifeboats. BBC iPlayer, for example, is hugely popular and genuinely good.

Is Sky Sports Worth It?

For me, yes. I love Sky Sports, and for roughly £25 a month it gives you nearly everything you could want, within reason. It doesn’t have everything, because TNT Sports takes a share, but Sky has the lion’s share of live Premier League games and the EFL, so I still get plenty of football.

It’s also great background viewing. If I hit writer’s block and need a break, I can stick on an old EFL game from the late 2000s, something like Bolton vs Barnsley, and switch off for 40 minutes.

Formula One on Sky Sports

For the petrol heads among you, Sky Sports is also the home of Formula One. It’s not for me in any way, shape or form, but I know plenty of you love it.

Cricket: Sky Sports vs TNT Sports

In summer, Sky has every England home game, which is a big point in its favour. In winter it shares cricket with TNT, and unfortunately for me the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia went to TNT Sports rather than Sky. Winter tours move between broadcasters fairly randomly, so outside the English summer it really is a matter of choice.

Boxing on Sky Sports: Zuffa Boxing

Sky Sports is now the UK and Ireland home of Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, with some events on pay-per-view. Zuffa has already signed big British names, including Conor Benn, and Johnny Fisher now fights on Sky too.

There’s also loads of non-PPV boxing, featuring fighters who are working their way up the ladder. It’s well worth watching these free fights because you follow a boxer’s story as they rise through the ranks. The frustrating part is that once they get good, they disappear behind the PPV paywall.

The real reason Zuffa matters is money. It is backed by Saudi investment, and Turki Alalshikh has already transformed the sport by funding the super-fights everyone wants to see.

In Defence of TNT Sports

The only reason I don’t subscribe to TNT Sports is that I can’t afford both Sky and TNT. Simple as that.

TNT has the Champions League and European football, which I miss dreadfully. I’d love to watch my team play in Europe. (Amazon Prime Video shows one Champions League game on Tuesday nights, and from 2027 most Champions League matches move to Paramount+, with the Europa and Conference League going to Sky.) TNT also has some Premier League football, though not nearly as much as Sky, and it now has the FA Cup and UFC. I chose Sky for the football, but that’s personal preference.

For a bit of downtime, TNT is just as good as Sky. If you want a break from work or just to put your feet up, there’s plenty to watch.

A note on boxing: TNT used to be the home of Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, but Queensberry moved to DAZN in April 2025, so if you’re after Warren’s fighters, DAZN is the subscription you need.

Where Eddie Hearn Got Greedy, and UK Boxing Followed

I remember when I first started watching and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom was just becoming a force. I watched Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua come through, along with fighters who made it and others who weren’t so fortunate. Luke Campbell, another Olympic champion, was a wonderful boxer who never quite hit the heights, but he was still a great story.

I watched those boxers climb the ranks. Matchroom were the head honchos, all the best British boxers were on Sky, and I genuinely loved that period.

Then came Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko on pay-per-view. It was a wonderful fight and I happily paid. Eddie Hearn made a lot of money, and maybe he got greedy.

After that, Anthony Joshua never fought on free (subscription) TV in the UK again. Even Dillian Whyte went pay-per-view.

Make PPV Undercards Free

Pay-per-view should be carefully managed and kept for genuinely elite headline fights. Hearn didn’t invent this, but promoters shouldn’t load PPV undercards with talented fighters who would never earn a pay-per-view slot on their own merit.

My fix is simple. If Anthony Joshua fights Tyson Fury on pay-per-view, show the undercard free to subscribers, then put the paywall up just before the main event ring walks. Fans see the rising stars, the prospects get exposure, and the headline fight still earns its money.

Hiding the best young fighters behind a PPV undercard isn’t gentlemanly. That’s my humble opinion, anyway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sky Sports or TNT Sports better?

Sky Sports has more live Premier League football, every England home cricket match in summer, Formula One and Zuffa Boxing. TNT Sports has the Champions League (until 2027), some Premier League games, the FA Cup and UFC. Choose Sky for domestic football and F1; choose TNT for European football. Also there is plenty of Rugby Union on there is something for everyone.

Which sports are the “crown jewels” on free-to-air TV?

Protected events include the FA Cup Final, the FIFA World Cup finals, the UEFA European Championship finals and the Wimbledon finals, which must be offered to free-to-air broadcasters like the BBC and ITV.

Where can I watch Zuffa Boxing in the UK?

On Sky Sports, which signed a multi-year deal in 2026 to show all Zuffa Boxing events in the UK and Ireland, with some on pay-per-view.

Where can I watch Frank Warren’s Queensberry fighters?

On DAZN. Queensberry left TNT Sports and joined DAZN in April 2025