In this blog, Georgia Earing explores the rise and fall of ‘female-focused’ TikTok channel Sky Sports Halo – and what it teaches us about marketing women’s sport.

As an avid football fan (Chelsea Women’s), player and overall sports fan, I had to take the opportunity to reflect on the creation of Sky Sports Halo.

For me, this failure highlights why the way we talk about, present and market women’s sport is so important to get right and that there’s still work to do. 

So why did it go wrong for Sky Sports Halo and what are the learnings from it? 

Sub on: Sky Sports Halo 

Created as a ‘female-focused’ TikTok channel to appeal to the younger generation, the Sky Sports Halo platform lasted the best of 72 hours before being axed. It was meant to be a welcoming community for female fans to talk about sport, focused on fun and relatable content. The vision may have been there initially but wasn’t executed well.

Match”a” the day

One of the posts featured on the TikTok channel included the words “How the matcha + hot girl walk hits” over a clip of Erling Haaland sprinting towards goal. This was a patronising and sexist post that assumed a lack of technical knowledge by the women this platform was designed for. This was also all in pink writing, just to ensure women could follow (blue, for example, might have been confusing…) And whilst aimed at women, a lot of the posts featured men. 

While TikTok can be a space for unserious, self deprecating and ironic content, which I do enjoy, when it comes to sports women have been sidelined for too long. How we present it must be done fairly, accurately and with consideration.

Post-match analy”sis” 

  • Take the time to know your audience – When building a channel, brand or communications strategy, we have to include the right people in the process. This is key to creating an authentic, positive, empowering space and legacy for current fans and future generations to be proud of. Making assumptions without grounding them on insights from real people or content creators (not just in women’s sport, but in any sector) doesn’t work. 
  • Don’t treat your target audience as an identical, homogenous group – Women who enjoy sports aren’t a trend or niche, and certainly not a ‘little sis’. If the aim is creating an inclusive space, it’s so important that this reflects everyone’s enjoyment and experience as much as possible. For example, women don’t need their interests wrapped up in cute pink bows. 

I recommend reading Kate Dale’s letter in The Guardian on why sports marketing needs a fundamental shift to accurately reflect how women and girls enjoy sport.

Women’s sport deserves respect in its own right, and as fans and as players, women have been working hard to carve the way for a bright and more equal future. Unfortunately, this endeavour by Sky Sports Halo took a step in the complete wrong direction.