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The staggering total cost of paying for every football provider in the UK

Nestor Watach •

Being a football fan in the United Kingdom is an increasingly costly hobby.

Rising ticket prices and travel costs make being a regular match-going supporter an expensive endeavour. But it also considerable amount to follow the sport on television.

There are no fewer than six different companies offering subscription deals for different televised football competitions. There was a time in which a Sky Sports subscription would grant you access to the Premier League, Champions League, La Liga and MLS – but now to watch all of those competitions you’re required to pay out to four different providers.

Even if you only follow the Premier League, to have the chance to watch all the available televised games you’re required to pay for Sky, BT and Amazon.

For access of absolutely everything on offer, the consumer is required to shell out well over £1000 per season. In fact, were you to sign up to the different contracts between each of the providers, you’re looking at a total cost of approximately £1800 in total.

Over the course of a full season (10 months from August to May), the cheapest available offers for Sky Sports and BT Sport come to a £565 for their Now streaming platforms. To get them through traditional live television broadcast, you’re looking at close to £900 without signing up to longer contracts.

We’ve taken a look through and broken down the total costs for subscribing to the different providers.

Sky Sports

Back in 2021, Sky extended their existing deal with the Premier League to show 128 live matches a season. It also shows matches from the Football League, SPFL, Football League Trophy, League Cup, Women’s Super League and Bundesliga.

A full Sky TV subscription currently costs £26 a month if you sign up for an 18-month contract, or £29 a month on a 31-day rolling basis.

Sky Sports costs an extra £20 a month on top of that if you opt into the contract. If you don’t want to be tied into a contract, then the monthly cost is £27.

So that’s a monthly cost of £46 a month for Sky Sports if you’re in a Sky TV contract. That rises to £56 a month without being in a contract.

Ultra HD (4K) is a further £6 a month. No contract, on a rolling basis.

Alternatively, you can go for the slightly cheaper Now TV if you have a compatible streaming device. You can claim that for £21 a month on an introductory six-month offer, with no contract. After that period, the price then rises to £34.99 a month.

Total costs over the course of a ten-month season:

Sky TV with Sky Sports – £460 (18-month contract – £828 in total)
Sky TV with Sky Sports Ultra HD – £520 (18-month contract – £828, plus a further £108 for 18 months UHD)
Sky TV with Sky Sports (no contract) – £560
Sky TV with Sky Sports (no contract) + Ultra HD – £620
Now TV – £265.96 (six months introductory offer + four months full price)

BT Sport

BT have the rights to 52 Premier League matches a season. They also show Ligue 1 and Serie A, as well as the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League exclusively.

A standard BT Sport package costs £18 month on a 24-month contract, plus £39.99 up front for activation costs. They also offer a bumper package with BT TV, BT Sport and all the Sky Sports channels (via the NOW App) for £43 a month (but £1 for the first three months) over a two-year contract

If you have Sky TV, it costs £29.99 a month to add BT Sport to your package. That’s on a rolling basis or in a 12-month contract, with upfront costs of £20 or £35 respectively. BT broadband or mobile customers can also sign up for £22 a month, with no upfront costs, but only on a 24-month contract.

A monthly BT Sport pass (via the BT Sport app or via the web player) costs £29.99 a month.

Total costs over the course of a ten-month season from August to May:

BT Sport – £219.99 (24-month contract – £471.99)
BT Sport with Sky Sports on NOW app – £304 (24-month contract – £906)
BT Sport (Sky TV) – £334.90
BT Sport (Sky TV – 12-month contract) – £319.90 (Contract cost – £379.88)
BT Sport (Sky TV – 24-month contract) – £220 (Contract cost – £528)
BT Sport pass (no contract) – £299.90

Amazon Prime 

Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video has the rights to two full rounds of Premier League fixtures, so 20 matches in total.

These come in two chunks. In 2022-23 the first set of midweek fixtures fell in mid-October while the second set were scheduled for Boxing Day.

Postponements following the death of the Queen made things a little more complicated this year, but ordinarily you’d be able to watch the Amazon matches by signing up two months worth of Prime (if you remember to cancel and sign up again).

The cost of Prime is £8.99 a month. They also offer a one-month free trial every 12 months.

Total cost:

Amazon Prime (two months) – £17.98
Amazon Prime (one month free trial and one month) – £8.99

Viaplay

Having bought out Premier Sports last year, Viaplay has the rights to Euro 2024 Qualifiers for all countries apart from England, who are shown on Channel 4. The digital streaming platform also has the rights to show LaLiga, the UEFA Nations League, the Portuguese Liga, the Coppa Italia, ViaPlay Cup (Scottish League Cup) and Scottish Cup.

A Viaplay subscription costs £14.99 a month or £11.99 a month if you sign up for a 12-month contract.

Total season’s cost:

Viaplay – £149.90
Viaplay (contract) – £119.90 (full contract – £143.88)

Apple TV

If you’re interested in watching Major League Soccer, you’ll need to go through another subscription service.

Apple has the rights to MLS. It costs £14.99 a month or £99 for the whole season. If you’re already an Apple TV+ subscriber (£6.99 a month), then an MLS Season Pass costs an additional £12.99 a month or £79 a season.

MLS Season Pass – £99

DAZN

Emerging as a major player in other areas, DAZN are cornering the market when it comes to women’s football.

They own the UK rights to Liga F (Spain), the NWSL (USA) and the Women’s Champions League.

A monthly saver pass is a 12-month contract at £9.99 a month. Alternatively you can pay £19.99 a month with no contract, or £99.99 for a year’s service for a one-off fee.

DAZN Annual Super Saver – £99.99

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