Sky Sports accused of 'patronising' women as broadcaster suffers extreme backlash on social media

Yet the tone of the channel’s first wave of content has sparked intense debate, with pastel-coloured captions, bubble-letter graphics, pink sparkles and heart-strewn edits drawing criticism from viewers who say it infantilises a rapidly growing audience of serious female sports followers.

Despite positioning itself as a women-focused space, nearly half of Halo’s first 11 videos featured male athletes.

One clip framed the friendship between tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the “bromance of the century,” adopting what the account describes as “Sincaraz core.”

Another referenced Arsenal-supporting New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, tagged with the caption: “Thinking about Zohran Mamdani rizzing us and Arsenal up.”

Other posts did highlight women’s sport, including a feature on Manchester City striker Bunny Shaw, a celebratory clip marking India’s Women’s Cricket World Cup victory and a Barbie-style recreation of female athletes accompanied by the caption: “Because women can be anything, Barbie can be anything.”

Sky also plans to livestream England’s clash with New Zealand in the Vitality Netball International Series this weekend.

Even so, many fans feel the branding misjudges its target audience.

Girls on the Ball, a prominent platform covering women’s football, voiced frustration, saying: “The branding (one day can we please be past the pink/peach stage?!), the premise, the copy… can’t imagine this is what women sports fans want and taking a brief look at the comments it seems like we’re not alone.”

Some TikTok users initially welcomed the concept, praising its mission to offer more visibility to women’s sport.

But sentiment shifted as more videos were uploaded.

A viewer on X slammed Halo as “one of the most insanely patronising and misogynistic activations I’ve seen from a brand,” adding: “Your female audience has increased so much… but this is exactly how to minimise us. Making it about ships and matcha and hot girl walks - do better.”

Another critic wrote: “Great promotional work! Completely undermining women’s sports before you’ve even started! Embarrassing.”

A third questioned whether dividing audiences by gender was progressive, saying: “‘Little sistering’ women’s sports in general seems like a step backwards instead of forwards. A little bit patronising and condescending perhaps? Just a thought.”

Some went further, accusing the project of being “sexist” and “degrading.”

One comment read: “Yuckk feels incredibly degrading and sexist. You don’t need to Girlbossify and dumb down ‘sports content’ in pink glowy text and memes to engage a female audience.”

Another said the approach “puts all women who watch sport under the umbrella of fanpage culture.”

Sky Sports have defended the launch, announcing Halo on X with the message: “Introducing Sky Sports Halo – the lil sis of Sky Sports. A new TikTok channel created specifically for female sports fans.

“We’re about ALL sports and championing female athletes… We don’t just watch sports – we live it.”

Halo’s own responses to criticism have been punchy. Beneath one video showing slick interplay between Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, the caption read: “How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits.”

When a user commented: “Can’t believe this is what you think female sports fans like,” the account shot back: “Can’t believe you brought that kind of energy.”

With the debate still escalating, the channel’s creators insist they are reshaping sports culture for women - though many viewers remain unconvinced Sky has struck the right tone.