LED, LCD and plasma TV: Free TV and pay TV services Sport on TV
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, 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, tend to make big sporting events such as the Olympics or World Cup available in HD.
See the Which? guide to HD TV explained for more details on HD channels and costs.
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 content 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 UEFA European matches.
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). Sky and Virgin Media customers can watch ESPN’s HD broadcasts for an extra fee.
Eurosport
If you're keen on Sky or Virgin'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.
The European sports channel covers alternative football and rugby content, including live UEFA five-a-side championships, international under-17 and under-19 football championships. It also shows Bundesliga football and French Top 14 rugby union matches.
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.
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, but 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 |
| Top Up TV Anytime | No | Yes | Yes |
| BT Vision | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sky | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virgin Media | Yes | Yes | Yes |
For more information on packages with Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision and Top Up TV Anytime, see the Which? guide to cable TV, satellite TV and digital TV packages.