Sky Sports slammed for ‘patronising’ launch of female-focused Halo TikTok channel

Sky Sports faces backlash after debuting Halo, a female-targeted TikTok channel criticized for stereotypical branding

Sky Sports is facing significant backlash after unveiling “Sky Sports Halo,” a new TikTok channel marketed as the “lil sis” of its main sports content and designed to target female fans. Many viewers and women’s sports advocates have condemned the branding as condescending, arguing that the aesthetic—featuring pink text, heart graphics and “girlboss” style language—reduces female sports interest to stereotypes.

sky sports made this ‘halo’ channel meant to cater to female sports fans and all they’ve done is talk about matcha, hot girl walks and wags 😭 do they think women cannot comprehend sports in a technical way?? pic.twitter.com/eeg5QCYwru

— Saf ⁴ (@SafSmiless) November 13, 2025

Halo was introduced as a space “specifically for female sports fans” and a platform meant to celebrate women athletes, but the Daily Mail notes that nearly half of the first batch of uploaded content focused on male stars. Among them were clips centered on the friendship between tennis champions Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and a post referencing New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, framed through pop-culture slang such as “rizzing.”

hey @SkySports just to let you know your new account halo for women sports fans is insanely insulting and misogynistic. women do not need a dumbed down version of sports, we are perfectly capable of watching sports and following the regular pages rather than needing to watch…

— julia ⁴ (@juliaunboxed) November 13, 2025

If you ever feel like you’re crap at your job remember MULTIPLE people worked on that sky sports halo and not one said errrr maybe not

— nothing is funny anymore (@formulaerins) November 14, 2025

Some portions of the sports community have welcomed the idea of a dedicated channel aimed at amplifying women’s sports and engaging new audiences. Halo plans to livestream England’s match against New Zealand in the Vitality Netball International Series. Additionally, the page has highlighted Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw and India’s recent Women’s Cricket World Cup win. Another video depicted women athletes re-imagined as Barbie dolls with the caption, “Because women can be anything, Barbie can be anything,” which drew widespread criticism.

Girls on the Ball, a respected platform within women's football, publicly questioned Halo’s direction, describing the color scheme, tone and copywriting as outdated and unrepresentative of what women sports fans want. Social media reactions have been mixed, with some TikTok users praising the concept, while others on X labeled it “misogynistic,” “degrading,” and “one of the most patronising brand activations” they had seen.

Critics argue that the channel reinforces clichés about women’s interests—such as “matcha,” “hot girl walks,” and fandom culture—rather than offering meaningful sports coverage. When challenged in the comments, Halo responded with a combative tone, further fueling debate.