How to get the best TV package deal Best TV packages for sport
If you're into sports there's plenty of digital TV options open to you. Read on to find out where you can watch Sky Sports, ESPN and Eurosport and which TV provider offers sports coverage that suits you.
Like to watch sport on TV, but not sports-mad?
You may find basic TV channels provide enough content already. Events such as the football World Cup, European club football, Formula 1 motor racing, Six Nations rugby, the Olympics and Tour de France are all available free of charge on Freeview and Freesat.
Free HD services like BBC HD and ITV HD also tend to make bigger sporting events available in HD.
Do you really need Sky for the best in sport? Read our TV package deal reviews to see how the sport on Virgin, BT and other providers stacks up against Sky.
Sports TV channels
The table shows the providers that offer each service but bear in mind that you may not automatically receive these channels. You may need to add them to your package for an additional cost, or they may be included only on the more expensive deals
| Sports on Digital TV: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital TV |  British Eurosport |  ESPN |  Sky Sports |
| Freeview | No | No | No |
| Freesat | No | No | No |
| Freesat from Sky | No | No | No |
| BT Vision | No (available in 2013) | Yes | Yes |
| Sky | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TalkTalk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virgin Media | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Top up TV Anytime | No | Yes | Yes |
Sky Sports is available on Sky, Virgin Media and Tiscali TV
Sky Sports
Sky Sports shows the largest amount of football, rugby, cricket and golf through four sports channels. It claims to cover more than 100 sports and includes Barclays Premier League football, rugby union and cricket international test matches.
Sky Sports channels are available on Sky, Virgin Media and BT Vision.
ESPN and ESPN America
ESPN shows fixtures from the Barclays and Scottish Premier League as well as European competitions.
If you get ESPN on Sky or Virgin Media, you’ll also get the ESPN America channel, which shows live coverage of American sports such as American football, ice hockey, basketball, baseball and motor racing.
Most live content on ESPN and ESPN America is also available in high definition (HD).
Eurosport
If you're keen on Sky, Virgin, or TalkTalk's TV services, but don't want to shell out for Sky Sports or ESPN, choosing a monthly subscription pack that includes Eurosport could be a good compromise.
Tennis fans are especially well catered for on Eurosport, with live coverage of ATP World Tour (excluding the finals, which are on Sky Sports), WTA Tour matches and the Australian Open, French Open and US Open grand slam tournaments. Eurosport also has extensive coverage of motorsport (excluding F1 and World Rally) and winter sports, such as skiing World Cup races.
BT Vision customers will soon have the option to add Eurosport to their monthly subscription, when it becomes available to BT's TV service in Summer 2013.
- TV reviews - see the TVs that rated best in our lab test
- TV package reviews - find out how Sky, Virgin and other providers performed
- Broadband deals - which deal is best for you
