David Farnor | On 09, Sep 2020

With the Premier League returning on Saturday 12th September – find out the full list of fixtures here – football fans wanting their live sports fix after the coronavirus lockdown have got one question: how do I watch the Premier League online legally, with or without Sky or BT TV?

Sky and BT have long fought over the rights to the UK’s top flight football matches, with Sky Sports dominating the line-up. The BBC, meanwhile, airs highlights every weekend on Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2, while Amazon Prime Video has also entered the fray from the 2019/2020 season to show a selection of matches, including the games on Boxing Day.

Since the coronavirus lockdown caused matches to be suspended, though, all usual bets are off, with the BBC showing matches for the first time in decades, alongside Amazon Prime Video, BT Sport and Sky Sports.

There are 28 matches in total across September, with Sky Sports streaming 18, BT Sport showing 8, the BBC broadcasting 1 and Amazon Prime streaming 1.

As cord-cutting becomes increasingly popular, and household budgets become tighter, more and more footie fans are looking to be able to watch football and other premium TV without the hassle or high prices of a lengthy pay-TV contract. The good news is that watching live football has never been more flexible or affordable – and not just because some matches are being broadcast for free. (You can see our guide to the currently confirmed fixtures here.)

We round up your options for viewing the Premier League:

Sky Sports

Sky Sports, at the time of writing, costs £18 a month for just Sky Sports HD and Sky Sports Football HD. After a rebranding of its Sky Sports package last year, you can now get Sky Sports without a minimum contract, which means you can pick and choose channels and sign up on a month by month basis.

All Sky Sports channels are also available for £23 a month, on an 18-month contract basis. While Sky Sports is available contract-free, though, the catch is that they all require a Sky TV contract, which varies in costs, depending on whether you have Sky TV and/or Sky Broadband. Similarly, Sky Sports is available as an add-on to other pay-TV contracted services. (Visit the official websites for Virgin, TalkTalk TV or BT TV to find out more.)

For more information on Sky Sports, click here.

 

NOW

The good news is that all Sky Sports channels are available to stream live without a contract through NOW.

A NOW Sky Sports Day Pass costs £9.99 (24 hours’ access) or a Month Pass is also available for £33.99, which autorenews as a monthly subscription.

For more information on any of the passes, the full terms and conditions, or to start streaming passes, click here.

 

BT Sport

There are a range of options for accessing BT Sport:

BT TV

BT TV customers can watch BT Sport on BT TV, with the pack of BT Sport’s four channels available at the time of writing for free for 18 months with selected TV packages.

BT TV requires a BT Infinity or BT Broadband service, with prices varying depending on your chosen contract, but they usually start around £35.99 a month. BT Sport HD is an additional £6.50 a month.

BT Broadband

As long as you’ve got broadband from BT, you can watch BT Sport on your PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet using the BT Sport app or online player – you just enter your BT ID to start streaming.

If you’ve got the right equipment at home, you can connect your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet to your TV and stream BT Sport on the big screen.

The BT Sport app and online player is currently included for free if you order BT Sport on BT TV, Sky TV or TalkTalk TV. If you just have BT Broadband, it costs roughly £7 a month.

BT Mobile

For customers with BT Mobile, you can stream BT Sport online through your smartphone using the BT Sport app. The BT Sport pack is currently free for all Entertainment Max customers.

For more information on any of these, click here.

BT Sport without BT (using EE)

There are two ways to watch BT Sport without being a BT customer. The first is being an EE customer instead. EE users can download the BT Sport app contract-free, by texting SPORT to 150. Set up a BT ID and login, and you can then use the BT Sport app with casting to your TV free using Apple TV or Google Chromecast for three months.

After the three-month trial, it’s around £5 a month for the app, with no contract, plus £10 a month for casting to your telly. If there’s a particular month you want to watch BT Sport on TV, therefore, you can just pay for that as a one-off see, then cancel.

The app is included in all 4G Max plans and a trial or subscription can be stopped by texting STOP SPORT to 150.

BT Sport App

BT Sport can now be streamed through the BT Sport app on iOS, Android, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox One, Apple TV and Sony PlayStation 4. It is also now available on NOW devices.

A BT Sport Monthly Pass costs £25 a month with no contract. The BT Sport Monthly Pass also allows users to stream the matches on the BT Sport website.

(Note: you can’t watch the BT Sport Monthly Pass on an Amazon Fire TV stick or a set-top box from any TV provider. This includes BT, Sky and Virgin.)

Note: Pricing may change after the date of publication.

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