Sky Sports just delivered a case study in disastrous women's sport branding
The channel was populated with pink captions, matcha and “hot girl walk” references.
As female fandom for all sports continues to grow, Sky Sports UK thought it pertinent to get a slice of the pie, launching a female-focused TikTok channel called 'Halo'.
Billed as the “lil sis” to the Big Boy channel, the broadcaster originally pitched it as a fresh space for young female fans to explore sports culture.
Fast-forward three days and it's since been shut down for, would you believe it, “patronising” and “unbelievably sexist” content, according to audiences.
What were they thinking?
Instead of offering the Promised Land of female-focused sports, the channel was instead populated with pink captions (because girls like pink, right?), matcha and “hot girl walk” references.
Five of the first 11 videos also featured male athletes, undermining the channel’s stated purpose.
Female-focused football website GirlsontheBall said the branding and tone were “not what women sports fans want”, while women's football magazine She Kicks described some videos as “strange” and misjudged.
One widely-shared critique labelled the content “one of the most insanely patronising and misogynistic activations I’ve seen from a brand”.
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Sky Sports and football spaces in general have plenty of knowledgeable women who could’ve been front and centre.
Instead, “Sky Halo” as the “lil sis” reduced it to a token pink, girl graphics.
Talk about missing the point. pic.twitter.com/JmcYWBVNT1
— Sam Fonseca (@SamFonsecaa) November 14, 2025
Sports fans also took aim at posts such as “Explaining 2008 Crashgate in girl terms” and the viral “matcha + hot girl walk combo” clip.
Comments argued the approach infantilised fans and undercut progress in women’s sport.
Sky Sports Halo has got to be one of the worst concepts I’ve ever seen. So condescending. Creating a dumbed down sports channel for women is unbelievably sexist. Incredible that it was approved and that it’s still live.
— James (@jamesdsmitth) November 14, 2025
Sky Sports UK confirmed it was yanking the channel byposting this message to its social media:
"Our intention for Halo was to create a space alongside our existing social channels 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.”
The closure was greeted with relief, and plenty of memes, as users joked Halo “lasted shorter than the European Super League”.
