Sky Sports has confirmed that they will not charge businesses for subscriptions as they have to remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pubs, bars and restaurants around the country are currently closed while people are encouraged to practice social distancing and self-isolating to combat the spread of COVID-19.
It's estimated business owners in the hospitality industry will feel the burden of this outbreak more than most, with outstanding bills and no income.
One of the most expensive of these would be subscriptions to sports channels such as Sky Sports and BT.
Sky has said today that they will not be charging these establishments while there is no live sport on television for them to show, if they were open.
Sky Business Venues
We'd like to reassure our Sky Business venues that from 14 March we will not be charging them for their Sky Sports service until a live sport schedule returns. https://t.co/O92ueDCwwi
— Sky Ireland (@SkyIreland) March 17, 2020
A statement released from the broadcaster stated;
"We understand that these are challenging times for many of our Sky Business venues, who rely on showing live sport in a social environment to attract customers and revenue.
"Supporting these businesses and doing what we can to help them in uncertain times is very important to us.
"We would like to reassure our Sky Business venues that from 14 March we will not be charging them for their Sky Sports service until a live sports schedule returns."
Meanwhile, the Premier League reportedly risk breaching their £3billion TV contract if the season is not finished by the end of July.
It's believed that England's top division has signed deals with Sky Sports and BT Sport that commit to delivering a completed fixture programme by 31 July.
A fresh contract for the next season then kicks off on August 1.
It's doubtful that the Premier League will be able to be completed by that cut-off point with the ongoing pandemic.
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