Virgin Media is adding a free sports channel, promising to deliver 1,000 events a year to its television subscribers. The aptly named FreeSports launches on Saturday 21 July, on channel 553 for all customers.
It’ll offer live football, cricket, tennis, rugby, athletics, motorsports, basketball, ice hockey and drone racing. That’ll include live international and Premier League teams’ friendlies, ATP World Tour Tennis, the British Basketball League, T20 cricket from Canada and the Red Bull Air Races.
It’s not exactly a sparkling line-up worthy of paying for in the first place (grassroots rugby league?), but it is free. So there’s that.
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The channel is already available on FreeView, Sky, BT, FreeSat and TalkTalk TV, so if anything it’s a latecomer to Virgin users. Those folks are able to purchase Sky Sports and BT Sports through their subscriptions, so this channel boosts the roster for sports junkies in the UK.
?We have some HUGE news today! ?
FreeSports will be available on Virgin TV from Saturday, July 21st as channel 553!!
Press release: https://t.co/p5QEch5AFi @VirginMediaCorp
Because sport is better free #FreeSports pic.twitter.com/if3Wxnxevs
— FreeSports ? (@FreeSportsUK) July 18, 2018
In the press release, Virgin is also touting its 4K UHD broadcasts this summer, which included the Champions League Final, the French Open and some World Cup matches. It also offered Wimbledon coverage in 4K UHD, as well as the ability to watch Centre Court games in 4K HDR (HLG) via the iPlayer app on the Virgin TV V6 box.
Virgin’s David Bouchier says: “It has been an incredible summer of sport so far and our customers have had everything they need to experience it from the comfort of their homes. Bringing FreeSports to Virgin TV further boosts our roster of sports channels and our customers can expect more to come.”
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While FreeSports won’t offer any main event style events, there’s likely to be at least something for sports nuts to check into every once in a while.
Are you a FreeSports convert? Which of the events are truly worth checking out? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
