Sky Sports reveals 'bumper year of sport' for pubs
Other crowd-pulling events in 2018 will include England’s rugby union tour to South Africa during the summer, the return of the Ryder Cup – the golf tournament that attracted more than 300,000 people to pubs and bars the last time it was played – international cricket, Super League rugby, plus several boxing bouts, said Sky Sports.
Boxing is becoming increasingly popular with pub customers regularly attracting over 600,000 pub viewers, Sky said, the exception to this being the Joshua v Klitschko, where the bout attracted in excess of 1m viewers in pubs.
The big fights in 2018 include George Groves v Chris Eubank Jr (17 February), which will be shown on ITV; Anthony Joshua v Joseph Parker (31 March); the return of Amir Khan (21 April); Tony Bellew v David Haye (5 May) and action from Katie Taylor and Kell Brook.
Unrivalled sports action
Sky Business managing director David Rey said: “With the unrivalled sports action on Sky Sports, our goal is to help licensees position their businesses as the home of sport, the only place to watch and enjoy sport throughout the year.
"This year, our broadcasting schedule will help our customers boost their takings through a combination of our exclusive content, alongside free-to-air fixtures, creating a full day of unmissable events.
"Over 99% of sports fans would return to the same venue having watched live sport there, so building a reputation for showing a variety of content, and delivering it well, will help to boost business and increase sales."
He continued: “A very exciting and continued growth area for pubs in 2018 will be the extensive line-up of boxing matches that will be shown on Sky Sports Pay Per View.
“To support our customers, we offer them more than just the ultimate in sports viewing; we help drive footfall through multiple-viewing cards that allow venues to show up to three events at any one time, access to point-of-sale material to help promote forthcoming fixtures and promotion of their venue via the Sky Sports Pub Finder.”
Here’s a snapshot of what Sky Sports said it will be offering licensees in 2018:
Football
Showing three times more Premier League matches than any other broadcaster, join Sky for the second half of the Premier League season to see if anyone can stop Pep Guardiola's Manchester City winning the title in style.
The race for top four spots could go down to the final day of the season with Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham fighting for the three remaining places.
Away from the Premier League, Sky brings live action from the Sky Bet EFL – including every play-off game – the Carabao Cup, La Liga, Eredivisie, MLS and much more.
Rugby Union
Rugby Union in 2018 for England is all about preparation for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Live on Sky, England take on a summer tour to South Africa and an Autumn International series that includes a mouth-watering clash with the world champion All Blacks. In addition to the England games, Sky will also be showing Ireland’s three-test series against Australia which take place on 9, 16 and 23 June.
The women's international game is also broadcast on Sky with all the Red Roses' Six Nations matches shown live.
Sky will also be broadcasting the very best from the men's and women's Sevens circuits, the all-out attack that makes Super Rugby unmissable, plus the best from the Championship and Top 14.
Cricket
After the disappointment of the Ashes series Down Under, England will look for revenge in a one-day international series against Australia at home, while they take on New Zealand, Pakistan and India in the three formats (Test, ODI and T20) of the game.
Formula 1
Dedicated purely to Formula 1, Sky Sports F1 will be the only place to watch every F1 race live in 2018, as well as every practice and qualifying session. For the first time in Formula 1 history, the new season will begin with two four-time world champions lining up on the grid as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel prepare to do title battle again. The season begins in Australia on March 23.
Golf
The Ryder Cup returns to Europe and Sky Sports this September as Europe try to regain the trophy after the Americans ended a run of three consecutive defeats with a commanding victory at Hazeltine, Minnesota, US.
On top of that, Sky will show live coverage of the Majors including the Masters, the US Open, the Open from Carnoustie as well as WGC action, the PGA and European Tour and comprehensive coverage of the ladies' game.
Rugby League
Defending champions Leeds kick off Sky Sports' coverage of the 2018 Super League season in February and you'll see all 12 teams in the first month's live coverage. Yet again, Sky will be bringing another Magic Weekend with all six matches being aired live from Newcastle for a fourth successive year.
Darts
Premier League Darts, the World Cup of Darts, the World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam of Darts will be followed by the traditional end-of-year finale at the 2019 World Darts Championship. Who will emerge from Phil 'The Power' Taylor's shadow to challenge 'Mighty' Michael van Gerwen?
NFL
The NFL season comes to a dramatic climax on Sunday 4 February. All roads lead to Minneapolis for one of the greatest sporting events – the Super Bowl. Can quarterback Tom Brady give the New England Patriots their sixth victory? Only time, and opponents Philadelphia Eagles, will tell.
Tennis
Sky Sports will continue to show the very best of the ATP Tour with the sport's biggest names in action. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were the men to beat in 2017 but former world number ones Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will be looking to come back strong from injuries.
And 2018 could be the year Masters champion Gregor Dimitrov emerges to break up the big four's domination. Follow it all on Sky Sports Action.
