Approximately five million homes now taking BT Sport

BT has announced that BT Sport will remain free with BT Broadband for a second season. The news emerged as BT revealed that around five million homes now take its sports channels, some nine months after they went live for the first time.

Around three million of those homes take the service directly from BT – either via satellite, BT TV or the BT Sport App alone – with the remainder taking the service via wholesale deals struck by BT.

John Petter, BT Consumer chief executive, says: “Fans have been the winners with BT Sport. Millions of homes have enjoyed the very best sporting action for free. We said we would shake up the market and we have done just that.

“The great news for fans is that BT Sport will remain free with BT Broadband for another season, during which we will broadcast live action from the new European rugby tournaments. There has never been a better time to switch to BT Broadband so I would encourage sports fans to sign up.”

BT also announced today that its set top box service BT TV has passed the one million milestone with the majority of those homes taking BT Sport.

Whilst BT Sport will remain free with BT Broadband for another season, non-BT Broadband customers can also watch the channels if they have a Sky satellite box. BT Sport is currently £12 a month in standard definition and £15 a month in high definition. Virgin Media customers can also access the BT Sport channels for the same price or as part of their package if they take XL broadband from Virgin.