Sky Sports

These are strange times to be a sports reporter. All national and international fixtures and events have been cancelled. The Premier League, Euro 2020, the Masters, French Open, Grand National, Olympics, London Marathon and Wimbledon are among the events that have been affected.

A run-of-the-mill English Premier League fixture on a Tuesday evening early next month is set to be one of the most significant football matches to be played in more than two decades.

That is because the game between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth will be the first ever to be broadcast live and exclusively by one of the tech giants.

Amazon, the global digital platform and retailer, is showing this and 19 other Premier League games to UK audiences during December via its subscription service Amazon Prime after paying about £90m for a three-year deal.

Mike Darcey assesses how vulnerable Sky is to a bid for Premier League rights from one of the tech giants

In partnership with Sky Sports, Sky VR is bringing rugby union closer than ever before in this powerful documentary which will bring the legacy of the Haka to light.

The film, says Sky VR’s executive producer Neil Graham “transports the viewer into the heart of the world’s most iconic sporting and cultural ritual.”

The virtual reality film follows the journey of a young Maori man as he explores the ancient cultural traditions which drive rugby in New Zealand.

The matches will be available on TV and across other Sky Sports platforms, making Sky the first-ever UK broadcaster to show every game of an ICC Women’s World Cup.

Viewers will be able to enjoy the excitement and drama of every moment, as England look to reclaim the trophy that they last won in 2009. 

Ex-England captain Charlotte Edwards will join Isa Guha in the studio for the final at Lord’s to bring viewers all the action as it unfolds. 

The visit attracted more than 30 students, recent graduates and people working in an entry-level TV role who benefited from the advice of Sky trainers. Megan Cooper, senior leader at the Sky Academy Careers Lab, organised the event, which included two sessions with Sky talent and a tour of the company’s broadcast facilities and studios.

Sky Sports boxing pundit Spencer Fearon – a former professional fighter whose life went off the rails – drew on his own often difficult experiences in a lively motivational talk.

There has never been a better time to own a ­second-tier sports event. While first-tier contracts generate mountains of cash – such as the three-year, £5.14bn deal for the English Premier League – it is the market for second-tier sports rights that is currently the most dynamic. 

The scheme, which will be delivered locally via gold clubs and PGA professionals is aiming to bring 500 000 new or lapsed golfers into the sport by the end of 2018.

Sky Sports have also confirmed that it will be repeating its Sky Sports Thursday initiative, making all 20 000 tickets for the opening round of the British Masters played at The Grove between 13 and 16 October, available free of charge.

Ant and Dec are nominated for the Entertainment Performance award and will battle it out against The Last Leg's Adam Hills and A League Of Their Own's Jack Whitehall. The Last Leg also receives a nomination for Entertainment programme where it will complete against Release the Hounds and The Graham Norton Show.