Halo, goodbye! Sky Sports axe ‘patronising’ female-targeted sport account referred to as Halo after THREE DAYS following intense backlash

Sky Sports has been forced to scrap its new female-focused TikTok channel after just three days following criticism it was ‘patronising’ and ‘unbelievably sexist.’

Named Halo, it was launched to great fanfare on Thursday, with the broadcaster boasting it would be an ‘inclusive’ place dedicated to ‘amplifying female voices and perspectives.’

But the channel, which the broadcaster described as the ‘lil sis’ of Sky Sports, was greeted with instant derision.

Social media users said the youth-focused content – which was littered with pink text, hearts and nail polish emojis, and also referenced ‘hot girl walks’, matcha and Barbies – was ‘a shockingly tone deaf initiative.’

It was also noted that, despite being aimed at women sports’ fans, five of the channel’s first 11 videos featured male sports stars.

By Saturday, Sky had performed a humiliating U-turn and ditched Halo, removing all but two of the posts on the channel.

They admitted: ‘We didn’t get it right (and) as a result we’re stopping all activity on this account.’

GirlsontheBall, a prominent platform covering women’s football, voiced their frustration on X, saying: ‘The branding (one day can we please be past the pink/peach stage?!), the premise, the copy… 

‘Can’t imagine this is what women sports fans want and taking a brief look at the comments it seems like we’re not alone.’

The women’s football magazine She Kicks also described some posts – such as one that featured the mayor-elect of New York, Zohran Mamdani, who is an Arsenal fan,  that included the caption ‘Thinking about Zohran Mamdani rizzing us and Arsenal up’ – as ‘strange.’

‘It is clear that Sky Sports are trying to grow their brand in women’s football but the new Halo channel seems to be going the wrong way about it,’ they said.

While another social media user described Halo as one of the worst concepts he had ever seen.

‘So condescending,’ he said. ‘Creating a dumbed down sports channel for women is unbelievably sexist. Incredible that it was approved.’

Another wrote: ‘Truly a slap in the face of every effort in the last 50 years to get women in sports – whether participant or spectator – taken seriously and treated with respect. Criminally tone deaf.’ 

Among the TikTok posts since removed was one referencing a Formula 1 scandal titled ‘Explaining 2008 Crashgate in girl terms’ that was written in pink glowing text alongside pink nail polish emojis. It was described as an ‘absolute embarrassment.’

Another clip of Manchester City players Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland combining for a goal against Bournemouth, with the caption ‘How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits’, was called ‘one of the most insanely patronising and misogynistic activations I’ve seen from a brand’.

The commenter added: ‘Women do not need a dumbed down version of sports, we are perfectly capable of watching sports and following the regular pages rather than needing to watch videos about wags or putting matcha in your caption.’

In a comment under the post, one user wrote: ‘Can’t believe this is what you think female sports fans like.’

In response, Halo replied: ‘Can’t believe you brought that kind of energy.’

Andy Gill, head of social media and audience development at Sky Sports, wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday that he ‘couldn’t be prouder and more excited about [Halo’s] launch.’ He claimed the channel’s creation had been ‘driven’ by women on his team.

But by Saturday night the broadcaster was forced to rethink.

‘Our intention for Halo was to create a space alongside our existing channel for new, young, female fans,’ Sky said.

‘We’ve listened. We didn’t get it right. We’re learning and remain as committed as ever to creating spaces where fans feel included and inspired.’

Sports marketing expert Alex Ross described Halo as a ‘complete disaster.’

‘Trying to engage female sports fans is a fantastic and necessary initiative, but attempting to do so and managing to alienate virtually 100% of the target audience is, frankly, quite an achievement,’ he wrote on LinkedIn.

While Nick King, a sports and entertainment advisor, added: ‘Had to check my calendar as soon as I saw this. First to check it wasn’t April 1st and then to check it wasn’t still the 1970s.’

The unceremonious ditching of the TikTok channel was welcomed by fans of women’s sports, with some joking that Halo had a shorter lifespan than the European Super League and this weekend’s international break in football.

Sky Sports was contacted for comment.