Football is the best value-for-money sport on satellite TV

 What a save!

Despite the last Premier League UK TV deal costing an eye-watering £5.2 billion, new analysis has discovered that football is actually the best value sport for fans to watch on satellite TV, forking out only 34p per live game.

Cost per broadcast 

The research, from discount voucher site MyVoucherCodes who looked at 30 days of Sky Sports programming, found that the national sport costs 36% less than the next cheapest sport to watch, golf (53p per broadcast), and half the price of tennis (68p per broadcast).

At the other end of the scale, it is rugby fans who pay the most to watch games on TV at £4.44 per broadcast, compared to 93p per rugby union match.

Time on the box 

Over the month-long period of analysis, it was found that tennis commands the advantage when it comes to number of hours on the box – airing for 326 hours, or the equivalent of two whole weeks.

In addition, almost 60% of Sky Sports’ live programming is either football (18%), golf (18%) or tennis (20%).

Surprising then that F1 only accounts for 6% of live output, given the network gave the sport its own dedicated channel, Sky Sports F1, back in 2012.

While each month’s broadcasting varies based on seasons and current competitions, it is telling that football has the highest number of live broadcasts over the tested period with 116.

This is followed by golf with 75 broadcasts, albeit with an average time of nearly four hours per broadcast, and tennis with 59 showings.

Chris Reilly, Managing Director of MyVoucherCodes commented: “It’s well-documented that broadcasters pay billions for football rights, so it might surprise some that it’s one of the best value sports for fans.”

“The fact that a single game can come in so cheap on the box will surely encourage fans to make the most of that subscription and save costs otherwise spent at the pub.”

With over 20 million Sky subscribers worldwide and a typical Sky Sports subscription costing £40*, MyVoucherCodes analysed 30 days of broadcasting across Sky Sports with the aim of helping consumers get the most bang for their buck.

In order for sports fans to maximise their value for money when it comes to the monthly subscription, the data shows they should dip into many sports and not just the favourites.