Sky Sports is a group of television sports channels owned by the satellite pay-tv company Sky. Sky Sports is frequently referred to as the dominant sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland, mainly because it has played a major role in commercializing British sport since 1991. One of the most notable examples is their influence to create the Premier League in 1992. The first Sky Sports channel was launched on April 20, 1991. In the past, Sky Sports used to number its channels to facilitate access to their users, but this approach was dropped in 2017, when the company decided to brand its channels with the sport they are dedicated to cover in most cases. Sky Sports Main Event is one of Sky Sports’ channels to be rebranded, with its focus being the top events being covered by the network from those sports they have acquired broadcasting rights. In the past, Sky Sports Main Event has aired competitions for the following sports: football, rugby, cricket, Formula 1, wrestling events, football, golf, and more. When there are no live events being aired by Sky Sports Main Event, the channel simulcasts the content of Sky Sports News, one of its sister channels. Sky Sports Main Event is often referred to as Sky Sports’ flagship channel. Sky Sports Main Event broadcasts its content in HD, as most of Sky Sports’ channels. Sky Sports Main Event is one of eight premium channels available over the basic Sky package, along with Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Arena, Sky Sports Golf, Sky Sports F1, and Sky Sports Action. All of Sky Sports’ premium channels, such as Sky Sports Main Event, may also be available on other pay-tv carriers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Check local listings for further details.

Sky Sports is a group of sports television channels operated by the British Sky Broadcasting company. [ 1 ] Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the UK and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of British sport since 1991, [ 2 ] sometimes playing a major role in inducing changes in the organization of sports spreads, particularly when the Premier League was encouraged. break with the Football League in 1992. Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available as a premium package on top of the basic Sky package. These channels are also available as premium on almost every satellite, cable and IPTV broadcasting system in the UK and Ireland. Sky Sports News HQ and Sky Sports Mix are both provided as part of the basic packages. The Sky Sports network is run by Barney Francis.

At launch, on February 5, 1989, Sky Television operated Eurosport as a 50/50 joint venture with the European Broadcasting Union. The channel was marketed as one of Sky's four channels from its launch, although additional sports programs such as long-running international cricket coverage were occasionally aired on Sky Channel. However, the service had encountered a legal challenge from rival sports channel Screensport, a joint venture between WH Smith and the US Television ESPN network. Subtitled as "The European Sports Network", the channel was also available on the Astra satellite and available to early Sky viewers. Screensport's claim was that EBU's involvement with Sky's Eurosport channel had the effect of restricting and distorting competition in the sports market. The European Commission agrees, and the Eurosport joint venture stopped broadcasting in Screensport's early 1991 win which was to be short-lived, as Eurosport would be a matter of months back with a new owner, this time with French broadcaster TF1 on Heaven's place as 50% of the shares, and Screensport would eventually merge with the Eurosport resumed in March 1993. Sky's involvement in sports broadcasting did not end with Eurosport's departure, as after Sky Television's merger with British Satellite Broadcasting in November 1990, it had acquired the name and assets of BSB's service "The Sports Channel" .

The sports channel was renamed Sky Sports on April 20, 1991, and began broadcasting to sky viewers via the newly launched Astra 1B satellite on that date, alongside its existing satellite broadcasts in Marcopolo de BSB. The channel was sold as one of the main draws in the Cielo system and sports such as rugby and golf were initially broadcast in 1991, before acquiring rights to the German and Italian soccer leagues in 1996 (both inherited from a sports channel ). The channel was initially encrypted, but broadcast free-to-view, requiring an analog VideoCrypt decoder, but no paid subscription, to be viewed. Since VideoCrypt set-top boxes were only officially available in the UK, this was intended to prevent the service from being displayed outside of the UK and Ireland. However, it was after the formation of the Premier League for the 1992/93 football season, it is believed that it was assisted by the promise of pay TV, Sky Sports that it became well known. Bidding £ 304m, BSkyB beat the BBC and ITV to acquire the live and exclusive Premier League football broadcasting rights for the UK and Ireland for a period of five years. In doing so, they had brought the English league's premier league live football on terrestrial television and free-to-air television for the first time in their history. At this point, Sky Sports became a subscription channel, available with a stand-alone monthly subscription, or at a reduced price if taken with Sky's movie channels. Sky Sports 1 mainly broadcasts football.

Sky launched its second dedicated sports channel, Sky Sports 2 on August 19, 1994, three years after the original channel launched on the Marcopolo satellite on BSB. As a result, "Sky Sports" was renamed "Sky Sports 1".

On August 16, 1996, Sky Sports 3 went live. The launch promotion involved many sports figures from the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Ryan Giggs to help get the channel up and running. Sky Sports also acquired the rights to Scottish football and the Coca-Cola Cup. Expansion of Sky Sports Sky Sports News HQ , is a 24-hour sports news channel operated by Sky Sports. Sky Sports News was launched on October 1, 1998, with Sky Digital becoming BSkyB's first digital channel. On April 10, 2000, Sky Sports News relaunched as SkySports.com TV, a move to bring it tied in with the launch of the SkySports.com website. However, the name was soon reverted to Sky Sports News. The channel replaced Sky Sports Center, a news program at 6:00 p.m., dedicated to the main events in the world of sports. Current presenters on the channel include Natalie Sawyer, Jim White, and Millie Clode. Another Show on Sky Sports News HQ is Saturday Football, hosted by Jeff Stelling and reviewed by Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson, Phil Thompson, and Charlie Nicholas, as well as match reports from Iain Dowie, Chris Kamara, Alan McInally, Peter Stevenson , Paul Walsh, Kevin Watson, Bianca Westwood and Matt Murray among others. On August 5, 2007, the channel was "revamped" in keeping with the new look of Sky Sports. The channel was again given a 'new look' on August 23, 2010 of its own accord, winning a significant overhaul of graphics and broadcasting in widescreen and HD for the first time. The review also coincided with the channel's upgrade to a "pay" channel, including its removal from Freeview.