Sky Sports’ attempt to boost its popularity with young, female fans backfired spectacularly over the weekend after a furious backlash to its Halo TikTok channel saw activity on the channel stopped after just three days.
Sky’s press release last Thursday said Halo, which was described as Sky Sports’ “lil sis,” would “aim to build a welcoming community for female fans through fun, trend-led, and relatable content, blending entertainment, inspiration, and the latest sports news.”
Content included clips of Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland captioned “How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits.” Much of the content was overlaid with pink and featured pink hearts.
Groups and fans immediately took to social media to blast the content as sexist and patronising.
By Sunday, Sky said the channel had ceased all activity. The only clips now available on the channel are its 29-second promotion vid, which includes female stars like Chloe Kelly and Leah Williamson, alongside male sportsmen including Bukayo Saka and Rory McIlroy, and its statement saying the channel would be halting activity. The press release promoting Halo has also been removed from its website.
“Our intention for Halo was to create a space alongside our existing channel for new, young, female fans,” said a statement.
“We’ve listened. We didn’t get it right. As a result we’re stopping all activity on this account. We’re learning and remain as committed as ever to creating spaces where fans feel included and inspired.”
The humiliating U-turn comes with women’s sport more popular than ever in the UK, which makes the decision to launch the TikTok channel more bewildering. The popularity of soccer has gone through the roof over the past decade or so, helped by the England women’s team having won the previous two Euro tournaments. Just a few weeks back, the England women’s rugby team won that sport’s world cup.
