Sky Sport NZ - Respect Your Customers and The Sport We Love
The issue
SKY SPORT NZ: RESPECT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND THE SPORT WE LOVE
A petition calling for accountability, reliable broadcasting and respect for the moments that matter
To Sky Sport NZ and its management,
We, the undersigned, are New Zealand sports fans and Sky Sport customers who are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the recent standard of broadcasting provided by Sky Sport NZ and Sky Sport Now.
Sky plays a major role in bringing live sport into New Zealand homes. For many of us, it is the primary way we watch the teams, athletes and competitions we follow.
We pay significant subscription fees for that service. In return, we expect to be able to watch the sport we have paid for.
Recent events have left many customers questioning whether Sky is meeting that basic responsibility.
JAI ARROW'S FINAL APPEARANCE
On Friday 4 September 2026, South Sydney Rabbitohs player Jai Arrow made his 100th and final appearance for the club.
Arrow is battling motor neurone disease, making the occasion an incredibly significant and emotional moment for him, his family, his teammates and rugby league fans.
As Jai Arrow was running onto the field for what would be his final appearance, Sky Sport cut away from the live broadcast to advertising, including a gambling advertisement.
As a result, Sky customers missed this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
This was not an ordinary stoppage in play. It was not a moment that could be recreated later. It was a player making his final appearance while facing an extraordinarily difficult personal battle.
Sky subsequently apologised and released footage of the moment. But watching a replay is not the same as experiencing the moment live.
You cannot rewind history.
When people pay to watch live sport, they should be able to trust that Sky will recognise when a moment is more important than an advertising opportunity.
ALL BLACKS V LIONS BROADCAST FAILURE
Only days earlier, Sky Sport Now customers experienced another major failure.
On 26 August 2026, New Zealanders got up in the early hours of the morning to watch the All Blacks play the Lions in South Africa.
Instead of the scheduled rugby broadcast, affected Sky Sport Now customers were presented with cycling on the channel carrying the match.
Many fans had specifically woken at around 5am to watch the All Blacks live and were unable to do so.
Sky subsequently acknowledged the issue and apologised to affected customers, attributing the problem to an outage affecting its platform.
We understand that technical failures can happen. But customers paying for a premium live sports service should be able to expect that the service will actually deliver the programme advertised.
When people set alarms, get out of bed in the middle of the night and pay a premium subscription specifically to watch a live event, discovering that the broadcast isn't there is simply unacceptable.
THESE ARE NOT JUST TWO BAD DAYS
The concern extends beyond these two high-profile incidents.
During the recent Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, which Sky broadcast exclusively in New Zealand, many viewers also reported frustration with coverage choices, the timing of ad breaks, and difficulty finding live events.
And Sky Sport Now customers regularly report ongoing problems including:
buffering and freezing;
streams dropping out;
poor picture quality;
difficulties maintaining a stable live broadcast;
problems across different devices and platforms.
We acknowledge that individual streaming problems can sometimes be caused by a customer's own internet connection or equipment.
However, repeated complaints from customers across different sporting events - from the Commonwealth Games to the All Blacks to the NRL - point to a broader pattern that should not simply be dismissed.
A premium sports streaming service should be reliable enough that customers can watch live sport without constantly worrying that the stream will fail at the worst possible moment.
ADVERTISING SHOULD NOT OVERRIDE THE SPORT
We understand that Sky is a commercial business and that advertising is part of broadcasting.
We are not demanding that advertising disappear.
We are demanding better judgement about when advertising is appropriate.
The Jai Arrow incident demonstrates why.
Sport creates moments that are bigger than the game itself.
A player walking onto the field for the final time.
A farewell.
A tribute.
A haka.
A presentation.
A historic achievement.
A moment of extraordinary human significance.
These moments happen once. They should not be treated as disposable gaps between advertising opportunities.
Sky should have appropriate editorial procedures and safeguards in place to ensure significant live sporting moments are protected.
WE ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS
This is not a petition demanding free sport.
We understand that broadcasting live sport costs money. We understand that Sky needs to operate commercially. And we understand that technical failures can occasionally occur.
What we are asking for is much simpler:
Deliver the service customers are paying for.
Respect the sporting moments customers are paying to watch.
Take responsibility when things go wrong.
WE CALL ON SKY SPORT NZ TO:
Provide a clear explanation for the decision to interrupt Jai Arrow's final walkout with advertising.
Review its advertising policies and procedures during live sporting broadcasts, particularly around player walkouts, tributes, farewells, ceremonies and other significant moments.
Prioritise significant sporting and human moments over advertising opportunities when those moments are unfolding live.
Strengthen Sky Sport Now's technical infrastructure, monitoring and contingency systems to minimise the likelihood of customers missing major live sporting events.
Introduce a transparent compensation policy for customers who are unable to watch significant live sporting events because of a Sky service failure.
Properly investigate recurring complaints about buffering, stream stability and picture quality, including those raised during the Commonwealth Games.
Provide meaningful explanations when serious broadcasting failures occur, including what went wrong and what is being done to prevent the same problem from happening again.
Listen to the people who pay for Sky Sport.
SPORT MATTERS
For Sky, a sporting event may be another item on a broadcast schedule.
For the people watching, it can mean something entirely different.
It can be the match you stayed awake until 5am to watch.
It can be the final appearance of a player you've followed for years.
It can be the moment your team wins.
It can be a haka, a farewell, a comeback, a tribute or a moment of sporting history.
Those moments only happen once.
Sky Sport has built its business around bringing those moments into New Zealand homes.
With that position comes responsibility.
We ask Sky Sport NZ to recognise that responsibility and restore the confidence of its customers.
We pay for the sport. We deserve to see it. We deserve a service we can trust. And we deserve better than missing history because an advertisement was deemed more important than the moment, or because the service failed to deliver the broadcast.
We call on Sky Sport NZ to listen, take meaningful action and do better.
65
The issue
SKY SPORT NZ: RESPECT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND THE SPORT WE LOVE
A petition calling for accountability, reliable broadcasting and respect for the moments that matter
To Sky Sport NZ and its management,
We, the undersigned, are New Zealand sports fans and Sky Sport customers who are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the recent standard of broadcasting provided by Sky Sport NZ and Sky Sport Now.
Sky plays a major role in bringing live sport into New Zealand homes. For many of us, it is the primary way we watch the teams, athletes and competitions we follow.
We pay significant subscription fees for that service. In return, we expect to be able to watch the sport we have paid for.
Recent events have left many customers questioning whether Sky is meeting that basic responsibility.
JAI ARROW'S FINAL APPEARANCE
On Friday 4 September 2026, South Sydney Rabbitohs player Jai Arrow made his 100th and final appearance for the club.
Arrow is battling motor neurone disease, making the occasion an incredibly significant and emotional moment for him, his family, his teammates and rugby league fans.
As Jai Arrow was running onto the field for what would be his final appearance, Sky Sport cut away from the live broadcast to advertising, including a gambling advertisement.
As a result, Sky customers missed this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
This was not an ordinary stoppage in play. It was not a moment that could be recreated later. It was a player making his final appearance while facing an extraordinarily difficult personal battle.
Sky subsequently apologised and released footage of the moment. But watching a replay is not the same as experiencing the moment live.
You cannot rewind history.
When people pay to watch live sport, they should be able to trust that Sky will recognise when a moment is more important than an advertising opportunity.
ALL BLACKS V LIONS BROADCAST FAILURE
Only days earlier, Sky Sport Now customers experienced another major failure.
On 26 August 2026, New Zealanders got up in the early hours of the morning to watch the All Blacks play the Lions in South Africa.
Instead of the scheduled rugby broadcast, affected Sky Sport Now customers were presented with cycling on the channel carrying the match.
Many fans had specifically woken at around 5am to watch the All Blacks live and were unable to do so.
Sky subsequently acknowledged the issue and apologised to affected customers, attributing the problem to an outage affecting its platform.
We understand that technical failures can happen. But customers paying for a premium live sports service should be able to expect that the service will actually deliver the programme advertised.
When people set alarms, get out of bed in the middle of the night and pay a premium subscription specifically to watch a live event, discovering that the broadcast isn't there is simply unacceptable.
THESE ARE NOT JUST TWO BAD DAYS
The concern extends beyond these two high-profile incidents.
During the recent Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, which Sky broadcast exclusively in New Zealand, many viewers also reported frustration with coverage choices, the timing of ad breaks, and difficulty finding live events.
And Sky Sport Now customers regularly report ongoing problems including:
buffering and freezing;
streams dropping out;
poor picture quality;
difficulties maintaining a stable live broadcast;
problems across different devices and platforms.
We acknowledge that individual streaming problems can sometimes be caused by a customer's own internet connection or equipment.
However, repeated complaints from customers across different sporting events - from the Commonwealth Games to the All Blacks to the NRL - point to a broader pattern that should not simply be dismissed.
A premium sports streaming service should be reliable enough that customers can watch live sport without constantly worrying that the stream will fail at the worst possible moment.
ADVERTISING SHOULD NOT OVERRIDE THE SPORT
We understand that Sky is a commercial business and that advertising is part of broadcasting.
We are not demanding that advertising disappear.
We are demanding better judgement about when advertising is appropriate.
The Jai Arrow incident demonstrates why.
Sport creates moments that are bigger than the game itself.
A player walking onto the field for the final time.
A farewell.
A tribute.
A haka.
A presentation.
A historic achievement.
A moment of extraordinary human significance.
These moments happen once. They should not be treated as disposable gaps between advertising opportunities.
Sky should have appropriate editorial procedures and safeguards in place to ensure significant live sporting moments are protected.
WE ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS
This is not a petition demanding free sport.
We understand that broadcasting live sport costs money. We understand that Sky needs to operate commercially. And we understand that technical failures can occasionally occur.
What we are asking for is much simpler:
Deliver the service customers are paying for.
Respect the sporting moments customers are paying to watch.
Take responsibility when things go wrong.
WE CALL ON SKY SPORT NZ TO:
Provide a clear explanation for the decision to interrupt Jai Arrow's final walkout with advertising.
Review its advertising policies and procedures during live sporting broadcasts, particularly around player walkouts, tributes, farewells, ceremonies and other significant moments.
Prioritise significant sporting and human moments over advertising opportunities when those moments are unfolding live.
Strengthen Sky Sport Now's technical infrastructure, monitoring and contingency systems to minimise the likelihood of customers missing major live sporting events.
Introduce a transparent compensation policy for customers who are unable to watch significant live sporting events because of a Sky service failure.
Properly investigate recurring complaints about buffering, stream stability and picture quality, including those raised during the Commonwealth Games.
Provide meaningful explanations when serious broadcasting failures occur, including what went wrong and what is being done to prevent the same problem from happening again.
Listen to the people who pay for Sky Sport.
SPORT MATTERS
For Sky, a sporting event may be another item on a broadcast schedule.
For the people watching, it can mean something entirely different.
It can be the match you stayed awake until 5am to watch.
It can be the final appearance of a player you've followed for years.
It can be the moment your team wins.
It can be a haka, a farewell, a comeback, a tribute or a moment of sporting history.
Those moments only happen once.
Sky Sport has built its business around bringing those moments into New Zealand homes.
With that position comes responsibility.
We ask Sky Sport NZ to recognise that responsibility and restore the confidence of its customers.
We pay for the sport. We deserve to see it. We deserve a service we can trust. And we deserve better than missing history because an advertisement was deemed more important than the moment, or because the service failed to deliver the broadcast.
We call on Sky Sport NZ to listen, take meaningful action and do better.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 4 September 2026