ONE of the most prestigious events in sport returns this weekend.
The finest players in world golf from Europe and the United States face off in the biannual Ryder Cup – and we reveal the best ways to watch without paying full price.
4
4
Sky Sports has exclusive rights to the competition once again, airing three days of action from Friday on Sky Sports Golf.
But subscribing doesn’t come cheap, costing about £33 a month.
Fortunately, there are some clever ways to watch without paying over the odds, and it could come in handy for any other premium sport you enjoy watching.
#1 Hidden TV deals
The first place worth checking is any existing TV provider you have.
Sometimes Sky and Virgin Media offer discounts for being a long-standing customer of their general TV packages.
However, it’s important to weigh up how much you’ll get out of it.
If you really only care about watching the Ryder Cup and nothing else then being locked into a contract might not be the best idea.
Sky, for example, lets you add Sky Sports on for £22 but that’s with a 24 month contract.
Speak to your provider directly as they may be able to offer you a better deal.
#2 Streaming
NOW – previously known as NOW TV – is Sky’s separate streaming service, which regularly runs offers.
The good thing about NOW is you’re not locked into a contract.
So, you can get the flexible option, which is £34.99 a month, that you can cancel anytime.
This provides you with access to all 12 of Sky Sports live channels.
4
#3 Day Pass
NOW also has Day Passes that provide you with access for 24 hours from the moment you sign up.
It costs £15 a day.
This could be ideal if you’re dipping into the tournament at the end after watching the other days somewhere else.
But if you want to watch it all, you’re better off getting the flexible subscription above for a month and cancelling.
#4 Secret saver subscription
NOW has just brought back its saver membership option which is also worth considering – but we stumbled across an even cheaper way to get it.
The six-month saver membership locks you in for half a year at £28 a month, cheaper than what you would pay via Sky directly or the flexible NOW option.
However, you can get this even cheaper and we’ll show you how.
If you go to the NOW website and select a £15 Day Membership, it will come up with a counteroffer.
Six months of Sport on NOW for £21.99 a month.
That works out at less than 70p a day – though again, you’ll need to be interested in more sport than the Ryder Cup for this to be truly worthwhile, as you’ll be locked in for six months.
It’s also worth noting that these sorts of deals can come and go very quickly – if you’ve already got a NOW account, you may not get this offered to you.
4
#5 Share your account
If you select a flexible monthly subscription from NOW, there are boost add-ons that allow more than one screen to watch at the same time.
These cost £6 for one extra screen and £9 for two, so you could split the cost with others who want to watch the Ryder Cup (when you’re not watching together, of course).
At the moment, you can add either the Boost or Ultra boost for free for a one-month trial.
One important note: You’re only supposed to share accounts with people living in the same household as you.
#6 Pub locator to watch free
Of course, you could pop down to the pub to watch for free.
Fanzo.com has a handy sports bar and pub locator that allows you to find venues showing the Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup line ups
Here are the players who will be competing in the Ryder Cup…
Team Europe
- Luke Donald (C)
- Shane Lowry
- Jon Rahm
- Sepp Straka
- Viktor Hovland
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Rory McIlroy
- Robert MacIntyre
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Justin Rose
- Rasmus Hojgaard
- Tyrrell Hatton
Team USA
- Keegan Bradley (C)
- Justin Thomas
- Collin Morikawa
- Ben Griffin
- Cameron Young
- Patrick Cantley
- Sam Burns
- Scottie Scheffler
- JJ Spaun
- Xander Schauffele
- Russell Henley
- Harris English
- Bryson DeChambeau
