Sky Sports has had an absolute disaster following the launch of its platform Halo, which was set to be focussed on female fans of sport. But the launch of Halo was so bad, and full of so much criticism that went from calling it “patronising” to “sexist” that Sky Sports Halo has lasted a grand total of three days before being abandoned entirely. The entire fiasco has gone viral since Halo was launched by Sky Sports on Thursday last week, but by Saturday operations had ceased. Here’s what happened with the downfall of Halo as Sky Sports admit defeat and female fans clap back at the out of touch way it pandered to them.
Sky Sports Halo only launched on Thursday
The platform announced its arrival with the promise of an “inclusive, dedicated platform for women to enjoy and explore content from all sports, while amplifying female voices and perspectives.” But it was launched to instant backlash from fans on social media who found the approach patronising. Much of the content was all written very “diva slay” if you know what I mean, and all the TikTok clips had a glowing pink font.
One particularly dragged bit of content said “How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits”. When someone commented criticising the tone of Halo, the official account replied saying the critique was ruining the vibes.
In a brilliantly put critique from Emily Trees to BBC Newsbeat, she said “We’ve spent the last 50 years trying to come away from the stereotypes around women’s sport, and trying to make women’s sport seen as an entity in itself rather than just as an extension of what men can do. We deserve our own space, something that’s ours. We don’t need to be the ‘little sister’ to anyone.”
For the next couple of days, the backlash increased
Women’s football platform Girlsontheball said “Have many thoughts which I will get to when not under a mountain of writing but all I can ask is why? The branding (one day can we please be past the pink/peach stage?!), the premise, the copy…” One said it was “one of the worst concepts I’ve ever seen”.
Sky Sports defended it, then eventually backed down and admitted defeat
Originally, Andy Gill – who is head of social and audience development at Sky Sports insisted that in his view the downfall of Halo was a success – because he said on LinkedIn he “couldn’t be prouder and more excited about [Halo’s] launch”.
But by Saturday night downfall had truly downfallen, and Sky Sports ceased operations on Halo and posted a statement saying “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.”
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