Now TV Season Pass ( Sky Football) 2020/2021

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if NOW TV will sell annual passes for Sky Sports football  2020/2021 season or will there just be monthly and weekly options?

[Anonymous User]

I've had a season pass for the last 3 years and I was hoping for a reasonably decent deal this time around, but this offer stinks to High Heaven.

I thought NowTV were finally getting their act together with the Boost option (which I wasn't happy about paying extra for but at least they were finally moving out of the noughties), but after this latest debacle I've had enough. 

I'm a BT customer and I watch the games on BT, and I will speak to them tomorrow about adding the Sky Sports pack. Or maybe I will just stick to BT and supplement it with MOTD. For sure I'm not giving NowTV any more money unless they want to offer a comparable deal to last season.

I will also be cancelling my NowTV Entertainment pass and Boost, and won't be signing up for anything else. 

[UKTVPlayapp]

I have just sign up for the 12 months sports pass starting from the end September. I went into my offers and the 12 months sports offer was available for me to take which I have claim. Happy days for the 12 months. Live channels and on demand service which has just go live last week. Happy Days.

[starman73]

I've had a season pass for the last 3 years and I was hoping for a reasonably decent deal this time around, but this offer stinks to High Heaven.

I'm a BT customer and I watch the games on BT, and I will speak to them tomorrow about adding the Sky Sports pack

@Anonymous User how much is Sky sports on BT? And how long are you tied in for?

I could get Sky Sports with Virgin for £16.87/month but just SD. To get HD is another £7/month.  And only tied in for 30 days notice.

Fortunately I have a few now tv sports passes that cost me £50 (3 month) with sticks earlier this year.  Hopefully Argos and Currys do similar on Black Friday/New Year sales.

[Anonymous User]

Correct. Add Tesco voucher to Now TV account and then choose the offer. It will then pay with the voucher first.

[Anonymous User]

I caught the £20 season offer because I have been with Sky TV for last couple of years. There is good cashback deals with topcashback for Sky TV at the moment. You can get Broadband and Sky Sports for £45 after cashback. 

[Anonymous User]

@starman73, BT have an offer on which includes the 11 Sky Sports channels via the NowTV app on the BT Sport box, that would add £21 to my bill each month for the first 6 months, and then an extra £41 per month after that for another 18 months (24 month contract). 

In comparison, the 12 month NowTV pass would be £28 per month (including the Boost), so overall the NowTV 12 month offer is cheaper and better than the BT deal.

The other thing to take into account is that with BT, the Sky Sports channels would only be watchable via the NowTV app through the BT box, so not as good the 6 devices you get through NowTV directly. 

So it looks like the crappy NowTV deal is the best deal in town.

To show my displeasure, I cancelled my Entertainment Pass last night and I won't be signing up to any more Movie or Kids passes. Like most people, I have had enough of NowTV and their woeful customer service and the way they mistreat loyal customers. NowTV is easily the worst of all the content providers I have ever signed up to. Pity, because in theory it has the potential to be so good.

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User I've just signed up to the BT deal as I have both a NowTV sports pass and BT sport's pass which both together with boost would cost £53 a month if I was to take the NowTV offer.

With BT I'll be paying £25 a month (with hd) for 6 months and then £45 a month (with hd) for 18 months. So saving £28 a month for six months and then £8 a month for 18 months. I'm saving a minimum of £312. Granted I have lucked out in that my broadband package with my current supplier ends next month so no penalty to switch to BT!

You can still register 6 devices through the BT payment and with hd/boost bolt on use 3 at a time! So, if you already have BT sport, NowTV's offer certainly isn't the best in town!

[Anonymous User]

@Saint1976, thanks, that's interesting. So, I looked into it a bit more and I discovered that I'm currently on a deal that gives me BT Sports and BT Entertainment packs for £12 per month. That deal ends next year.

So for me, it's cheaper to stay as I am for now, but only until my deal ends. I will have to crunch the numbers again though to see how it looks after my deal ends. Thanks for the info.

[Hooba]

@Anonymous User Also - its not the case that if you take Now through BT that the Sky Sports channels would only be watchable via the NowTV app through the BT box. All of the Sky Sports channels can be accessed through the standard BT Box program guide if taken through BT - and are recordable etc. You could watch them through the NowTV app on the BT Box, but not sure why you'd want to. 

[Anonymous User]

@Anonymous User - I came on here to add on top of what @Saint1976 and @Hooba were saying.

Basically I'm paying £20/month for the first 6 months, and then it reverts to £40/month thereafter. If there are quiet periods, I can "flex down" my package to only have BT Sport for example, which costs £15/month (so it doesn't have to be £40/month for 18 months).

For the Big Sports package, you get the 12 sky sports channels, BT Sport, and Box Nation. Obviously you get the BT box, so everything is recordable. And as already mentioned, it is not restricted to watching through the BT box.

For the past 3 season, I have been happy with NOWTV. However, I'm voting with my feet and leaving them - poor customer service and another price hike after all the failed assurances did it for me (don't forget, it only cost £180 for the 18/19 season pass, then went up to £200 last season... I'm sure you can spot the trend now with the prices being released for this season).

In that BT Sport price, you are getting more sport channels, and you will have less hassle dealing with their customer service and hunting down codes. Also, the BT advisor assured me if there were any sporting lockdowns in future waves, then I would be credited for that month. The way NOWTV is no longer providing a season pass shows they have no intention of reimbursing or extending customers pass if that were to happen.

It's a shame really, but I've decided I no longer want to be their customer.

[Anonymous User]

Spoiler

@Anonymous User , @Hooba, @Saint1976 

Thank you all for the technical and pricing details. The BT lady told me today I would have to watch NowTV through the app, but did not mention that all the Sky Sports channels would appear in the Program Guide or be recordable. That changes things a lot.

Based on what you are all saying, I ought to have another chat to BT tomorrow and do my sums again. Though they tell me if I switch to the new package now, I lose the deal I am currently on (which I believe is half price till February for BT Sport and BT Entertainment).

I will run the figures for both options and see what comes out best.

Thanks!

[Hooba]

Going the BT route does make a lot of sense if you want BT Sports as well as Sky (I do, and aways have done). BT Sport £15 - add another £25 for all the Sky Sports channels. And that's without any discounts. Turn Sky on/off once a month.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still be hunting down codes / deals etc if the BT/Sky thing hadn't happened. But I jumped to NowTV billed through BT as soon as it became available.

[Anonymous User]

@Anonymous User - Definitely, it's whatever works best for you. I was getting free BT Sports within last my contract (just the online app version). No chance I'd be getting that again. So it distorted my view on how much these things cost. Fortunately my contract was expiring in the next couple weeks, so when pricing everything up, it made things a lot simpler. To be honest, I just want things now to be as hassle-free as possible. I'm also hoping at the end of this contract, they will be able to offer retention deals on the TV package. Be a while to wait for an answer to that!

[Anonymous User]

So basically, I can sign up for the £25 a month deal today, let it run until 10th June when the season will (hopefully) be finished and then cancel it. So that's 9 months = £225. Hmmm...

[Anonymous User]

Correct.

[Anonymous User]

Basically by adding Tesco Clubcard vouchers to my NowTV account I have affectively got 9 months of Sky Sports + Boost for £175. I can live with that.

[Anonymous User]

That's correct. You'll probably get a warning message about upgrading your account the first time you select a Sky channel from the Programme Guide, but click OK and it will continue and start to show the content. 

As you've said, recording works just like it does for any other "non-app' related channel on the YouView box. It's good and the HD pack for £5 gets you HD on Sky and Max4k on BT if you have a 4k TV.

You can also switch the package around every month. That means switching between NowTV/Sky sport and entertainment but also dropping it altogether for a period (i.e. outside the football season). However, because it's a 24-month contract, you just fire up the same deal again when the new season starts.

I was already a BT customer but I've been able to renew my broadband deal, secure BT and Sky/NowTV sport for £10 per month less than I paid last year with a NowTV season pass.

[Anonymous User]

Have followed this thread since it started. Like many others, have had the season pass for 3 years, no issues. Tried to sign up for the 12 month offer, apparently I'm not eligible. Click on the link for my "exclusive offers" but comes up as "you're not eligible for this offer", the box even has a pre-entered code which is invalid. Ridiculous service, never known anything like it.

[Anonymous User]

Right, so I spoke to BT again, and re-did the sums. 

In a nutshell, if I stick with my current BT Sports and TV package and add the NowTV £25 for 12 months deal, plus £3 per month boost, it will cost me £1288 combined over the next 24 months (assuming the Now TV deal next season is the same, i.e. £28 per month including Boost).

However, if I switch everything to BT, it will cost me £1040 for 24 months. That's a saving of £248 versus going directly with NowTV. Plus I have the added benefit of being able to record programs. 

It's a no brainier.

I will also replace my NowTV Entertainment Pass with the BT Entertainment package which is £9.99, currently the same price as NowTV's, and which includes the same Sky entertainment channels but without the hassle of vouchers and cancelling and hoping for offers, and again the ability to record.

Thank you to @Anonymous User , @Hooba, @Saint1976 for making me see the light!

Overall, this whole debacle seems to be a ridiculous own goal by NowTV. A Season Pass like last year at £20 per month for 9 or 10 months would have done the job for me and would have kept me onside, but after 4 years I'm off. I won't miss them (and I get to free up an HDMI slot on my AV receivers).

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody know how to talk to 'chat' and not the 'chat bot'? I don't think it will make any difference to any offer but thought I'd try to talk to them. How?

[Anonymous User]

Go on the website and scroll down to complaints then select 1 of the different options and it should say get in touch and scroll down and it should say live chat