Sky Sports Terminates Halo TikTok Channel After Three-Day Backlash

Sky Sports halted all activity on its new TikTok channel, Halo, after just three days in operation, following extensive and immediate online criticism that condemned the platform’s content and branding as patronising and sexist.

Launched last Thursday, the channel was explicitly targeted at young, female sports fans and was described in its press release as the “lil sis” of Sky Sports. The initial announcement stated that Halo 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.” The original post on Sky Sports’ website launching the channel has since been deleted.

However, the approach of segmenting female fans, combined with the channel’s aesthetics—including pink glowing text and content referencing lifestyle trends such as matcha and “hot girl walks” drew universal criticism.

An example of the controversial content featured a clip of Manchester City player, Erling Haaland, combined for a goal, captioned:

“How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits.”

Fans and groups immediately took to social media to blast the content. The women’s football platform Girls on the Ball posted:

“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.”

Sky Sports officially conceded to the backlash on Saturday, posting a statement on X that confirmed the channel had ceased activity. The statement read:

“Our intention for Halo was to create a space alongside our existing channel for new, young, female fans. 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,” they announced.

The swift closure comes despite the recent surge in popularity for women’s sport, making the decision to launch the segmented channel a point of confusion for many observers.

Only the initial 29-second promotional video and the statement announcing the activity halt remain available on the Halo account.

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