SKY SPORTS HAVE confirmed they won’t be charging pubs at present, with the coronavirus outbreak prompting most live sport to be cancelled in recent days, while health minister Simon Harris requested on Sunday that all pubs be closed.

With the lack of sporting activity, the broadcaster confirmed it would not be charging businesses for their content until normal service resumes.

A statement released today read: “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 Sky Business venues that from 14 March we will not be charging them for their Sky Sports service until a live sport schedule returns.”

The news has been greeted positively by the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), the representative body for Dublin publicans.

They said in a statement they “welcomed the decision finally made by Sky to suspend Sky Sports charges for pubs”.

The statement continues: “They have also confirmed they will be writing to pubs to confirm this development.

“The LVA has been working on this issue since the closure of the pubs was announced, with many members contacting us about the significant charges imposed by Sky. We are pleased to see that Sky has now relented on this issue, following our engagement and a massive social media campaign led by our Vice Chairman, Noel Anderson.

“The LVA would like to thank all those who engaged on this campaign.

“The LVA is also continuing to engage with a number of other companies and businesses on behalf of our members, to bring forward measures that will assist publicans in light of the current crisis. This work is ongoing. We will keep members informed as soon as there are any concrete developments.”

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