Sky Sport Now Price NZ 2026: Every Plan and the Real Cost
The Sky Sport Now price rose again in 2026. Here is every plan, what a subscription actually includes, how the price has moved, what it works out to per match, and how to pay less.
The Sky Sport Now price in 2026 starts at $29.99 for a single day and goes up to $549.99 for a year. What you actually pay per match depends much more on how you use the subscription than on the plan you pick.
This guide sets out every plan, what a Sky Sport Now subscription includes, how the price has moved, and what it works out to per match. It ends with the easiest ways to pay less. All figures are in New Zealand dollars including GST. They come from the official Sky Sport Now site and were checked on 30 September 2026.
Sky Sport Now price list for 2026
| Plan | Sky Sport Now price | Billing | Works out to | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day Pass | $29.99 | One-off, 24 hours | $29.99 a day | No |
| Month Pass | $59.99 | Monthly, auto-renews | about $2.00 a day | No |
| Premium Month Pass | $64.99 | Monthly, auto-renews | about $2.17 a day | Yes |
| Annual Pass | $549.99 | Yearly, auto-renews | $45.83 a month | Yes |
| Sky Sport Now + Neon | $69.99 | Monthly, auto-renews | Premium Month Pass plus Neon Standard | Yes |
The per-day and per-month figures show the key point. The Sky Sport Now price is steep for one match and fairly cheap for a whole month of sport. If you’re only choosing between these plans, our Sky Sport Now pass guide has the break-even maths and a season planner.
What a Sky Sport Now subscription includes
Every plan, including the day pass, unlocks the same content:
- 12 live channels: the Sky Sport channels plus ESPN
- On-demand replays, highlights and full matches
- Every competition Sky carries, including the All Blacks, Black Ferns, Super Rugby Pacific, NPC, NRL, Premier League, Formula 1, NBA, NFL and major golf
A Sky Sport Now subscription does not include:
- Pay-per-view events, such as big boxing and UFC cards, which cost extra
- Sky’s entertainment channels. Those are on a Sky box or Neon
- Viewing from overseas, because the rights are for New Zealand
On picture quality, the Day Pass and Month Pass show Sky Sport in Full HD and ESPN in HD. The Premium Month Pass and Annual Pass add 4K UHD content for the events Sky produces in 4K.
Devices a Sky Sport Now subscription works on
The Sky Sport Now app runs on:
- Smart TVs: Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Hisense and Android TV models
- Streaming devices: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Chromecast
- PlayStation 5
- Phones and tablets: iPhone and iPad on iOS 13 or later, Android 10 or later
- Computers, through a web browser
If your TV is older and has no app, a streaming stick is the cheapest fix. Our IPTV box guide covers the models on sale in New Zealand right now. Its warning about Amazon’s newest Fire TV Stick applies to IPTV apps, not to Sky Sport Now, which is in Amazon’s app store.
How the Sky Sport Now price has changed
Sky raised prices in each of the last three years. RNZ reported in February 2026 that the Sky Sport Now Month Pass would go from $54.99 to $59.99 and the Premium Month Pass from $59.99 to $64.99. The day pass and annual pass stayed the same.
Sky’s satellite Sky Sport package followed the same pattern, according to RNZ:
| Year | Sky Sport package (Sky box) |
|---|---|
| Before February 2024 | $37.99 a month |
| February 2024 | $42 a month |
| March 2025 | $47 a month |
| 1 April 2026 | $52 a month |
Sky says the rises pay for sports rights and investment such as 4K broadcasts. Sky’s rugby deal with New Zealand Rugby runs from 2026 to 2030, so the costs behind the price aren’t going away.
What this means for you: expect the Sky Sport Now price to be reviewed again early in 2027. If you’re considering the annual pass, it is one of the two prices that didn’t change in 2026, and paying for a year fixes your price until renewal.
What the Sky Sport Now price works out to per match
The Sky Sport Now price means little until you divide it by what you watch. Here are some typical New Zealand viewers on a Month Pass at $59.99:
| Viewer | Matches a month | Cost per match |
|---|---|---|
| All Blacks only, test month | 2 | $30.00 |
| Super Rugby, one team | 4 | $15.00 |
| Super Rugby plus NRL | 8 | $7.50 |
| Rugby, league, Premier League and F1 | 15+ | under $4.00 |
At two matches a month, you’d pay the same with two Sky Sport Now day passes. From four matches upwards, the Month Pass gets cheap quickly. The heaviest viewers get the most value, and the annual plan’s $45.83 a month brings the per-match cost down further.
What the Sky Sport Now price adds up to over a year
Per match is one way to look at the Sky Sport Now price. The yearly total is the number that shows up on your card statement, and it depends mostly on how many months you keep the subscription running.
| Viewing pattern | Months subscribed | Yearly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Super Rugby season only (February–June) | 5 × $59.99 | $299.95 |
| All Blacks test months only | 3–4 × $59.99 | $179.97–$239.96 |
| Full rugby year (Super Rugby, tests, NPC) | 9 × $59.99 | $539.91 |
| Year-round, Month Pass never cancelled | 12 × $59.99 | $719.88 |
| Year-round, Annual Pass | 1 × $549.99 | $549.99 |
| Year-round in 4K, Premium Month Pass | 12 × $64.99 | $779.88 |
Two things stand out. A rugby fan who follows the whole season but cancels over summer pays almost exactly the annual price, without 4K. A viewer who never cancels a Month Pass pays $169.89 more than the annual plan for the same content. If you’ve had a Month Pass running for more than nine months, switching to annual is the easiest saving available.
What drives the Sky Sport Now price
Sports rights are the single biggest cost behind any sport streaming service. In New Zealand, Sky holds the rights to most major competitions. NZ Rugby’s current agreement makes Sky the exclusive home of the All Blacks, Black Ferns and Super Rugby Pacific from 2026 to 2030. RNZ’s analysts also noted that Sky had recently won back cricket coverage.
Competition for those rights has thinned since Spark Sport closed in 2023. With fewer bidders, the rights holder sets the price and viewers have fewer places to go for the same event. That’s why the Sky Sport Now price has kept rising while subscriber numbers held steady, as RNZ reported.
The one area where fans have more free options than a few years ago is provincial rugby. From 2026, TVNZ streams every NPC, Farah Palmer Cup and Heartland Championship match live and free on TVNZ+, alongside Sky. That’s worth knowing before you pay for a month in September.
Costs outside the Sky Sport Now price
The Sky Sport Now price isn’t always the full cost of watching.
Pay-per-view. Big boxing and UFC events are sold separately, even with an annual pass.
A device. Older TVs without the app need a streaming stick. Expect to pay roughly $70–$130 at New Zealand retailers for a current model.
Broadband. HD sport uses several gigabytes an hour. That’s nothing on an unlimited fibre plan, but it adds up on a capped plan or a rural wireless connection.
Commercial use. A Sky Sport Now subscription is for personal viewing at home. Showing matches in a bar, café, gym or office needs a commercial Sky Business subscription, which is priced differently.
Sky Sport Now price vs the alternatives
| Service | Monthly price | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Sky Sport Now Month Pass | $59.99 | Sky’s live sport, streamed, no contract |
| Sky Sport on a Sky box | $52 plus Sky Starter | Sky’s live sport via satellite, with Sky Go |
| Neon Standard | $23.99 | Sky’s shows and films on demand, no sport |
| Netflix Standard | $25.99 | On-demand films and series, no live sport |
The Sky Sport Now price is higher than the satellite Sport package on its own. But the satellite package needs Sky Starter underneath it and a Sky box in the home, which makes the real comparison closer than it looks. Check Sky Starter’s current price on Sky’s website. Our Sky Sport subscription guide compares the two routes in full.
The Neon bundle is the best deal on the list for households that want both. At current prices, a Premium Month Pass ($64.99) plus Neon Standard ($23.99) bought separately comes to $88.98, so the $69.99 bundle saves $18.99 a month.
How to start a Sky Sport Now subscription
- Sign up on a phone or computer, not with a TV remote. Go to the Sky Sport Now website and choose a plan.
- Use your existing Sky login if you already have one. It saves a second account.
- Pay by card. Month and annual plans renew on the same date each period.
- Install the app on your TV or streaming device and sign in.
- Test it before the match. Play any live channel for a few minutes the day before.
Do the sign-up at least a day before a big game. On match nights, the sign-up and password-reset queue in the half-hour before kickoff is where most people get stuck.
Changing or cancelling a Sky Sport Now subscription
You manage everything from the Subscriptions page in your Sky Sport Now account.
To cancel, choose cancel on that page. Under Sky Sport Now’s terms, you keep watching until the end of the period you paid for, and no refund is given for unused time.
To pause for the off-season, cancel and sign up again when your sport returns. There’s no reactivation fee. Just make sure your new start date lines up with the first match you want.
To move to the annual plan, switching near the end of a paid month avoids paying twice for the same weeks.
Five ways to pay less for Sky Sport Now
- Cancel between seasons. The easiest saving there is. A rugby-only fan who switches off from December to January and during quiet weeks saves two or three months a year.
- Go annual if you watch all year. At $549.99, the annual pass costs less than ten Month Passes and includes 4K.
- Buy a Month Pass and cancel it straight away. You keep the whole month, and you won’t forget to cancel later.
- Take the Neon bundle if you’d pay for Neon anyway.
- Watch for free events. Sky has occasionally given away a free day pass for a marquee match. Our free rugby guide covers the matches you can already watch free on Sky Open, Three and TVNZ+.
A quick checklist before you pay the Sky Sport Now price
Go through these before you enter your card details. They take two minutes and prevent the usual mistakes.
- Is the competition on Sky? Most New Zealand rugby, league and Premier League is, but not everything is. Check Sky Sport’s fixtures page for the match you want.
- Is it free somewhere? Friday night Super Rugby on Sky Open, NPC on TVNZ+ and delayed All Blacks tests on Three cost nothing.
- How many days will you watch this month? One day: Day Pass. Two or more: Month Pass.
- Will you want it for ten months or more? Then the annual Sky Sport Now price of $549.99 beats paying monthly.
- Do you have a 4K TV, 4K device and fibre? If not, skip Premium and save $5 a month.
- Have you set a reminder to cancel? Or cancel straight after buying. You keep the month either way.
Is Sky Sport Now worth the price?
It depends on how much you watch.
It’s good value if you watch several matches a month, want New Zealand commentary and coverage of local rugby, and don’t want a box or contract. For a regular viewer, a Month Pass works out cheaper per match than almost any other paid entertainment.
It’s poor value if you watch one or two matches a month and forget to cancel. A $59.99 subscription that renews for months after the season ends is where most people overpay. If that sounds familiar, open your Sky Sport Now account now and check the renewal date. It takes thirty seconds and could save you a few hundred dollars this year.
People often compare the Sky Sport Now price with IPTV. They’re different products: Sky Sport Now is Sky’s own licensed coverage of the competitions it holds rights to in New Zealand, and IPTV is a broad lineup of live channels from many countries. If a particular competition is the reason you’re comparing, check rights first. We explain how in our guide to watching sport on IPTV, and you can ask us about our IPTV subscription before paying anything.
Common questions
How much is Sky Sport Now per month in 2026?
The Month Pass is $59.99 and the Premium Month Pass, which adds 4K, is $64.99. Both rose by $5 in 2026. The annual pass costs $549.99, which works out to $45.83 a month.
Is the Sky Sport Now subscription cheaper than Sky Sport on a Sky box?
Not on the headline number. The Sky Sport package on a box is $52 a month, but it sits on top of Sky Starter and needs a Sky box. Sky Sport Now has no contract and can be cancelled between seasons, so it often costs less over a year for seasonal viewers.
Does the Sky Sport Now price include 4K?
Only on the Premium Month Pass ($64.99) and the Annual Pass ($549.99). The Day Pass and standard Month Pass show Sky Sport in Full HD and ESPN in HD.
Can I cancel my Sky Sport Now subscription at any time?
Yes, from the Subscriptions page in your account. You keep watching until the end of the paid period, but unused time isn’t refunded.
Does the Sky Sport Now price include GST?
Yes. Every Sky Sport Now price on Sky’s site, and in this guide, is in New Zealand dollars including GST. Nothing is added at checkout except pay-per-view events you choose to buy.
Can I share my Sky Sport Now subscription with my household?
A Sky Sport Now subscription is for personal use in your home. Sky limits how many devices can stream at the same time on one account. Check the current limit in Sky Sport Now’s help centre before you plan on watching two matches on two TVs at once.
Is there a Sky Sport Now free trial?
Sky Sport Now doesn’t advertise a standard free trial. Instead, Sky occasionally gives away a free day pass for a single marquee match, as it did for the opening match of the All Blacks’ 2026 tour of South Africa. These are announced shortly before the match and need an account.
Will the Sky Sport Now price go up again?
Sky has raised prices in each of the last three years, usually announced in February with changes from around April. Plan on a review in early 2027.
