Sky Sports’ new female-focused TikTok channel, Halo, promised a fresh space for women in sport but quickly became a lesson in how not to speak to female audiences. As Kate Higginson, Content Editor at eight&four, writes for Broadcast Now, the channel leaned heavily on clichés like matcha lattes, glitter graphics and tampon references, reducing women to stereotypes rather than reflecting the depth and passion of real female sports fans. Launched earlier this month and removed only three days later, it struck an awkward balance between sincere and satirical, leaving many questioning whether Sky Sports understood its audience at all.
The misfire was particularly frustrating because the opportunity was real. Women’s sport is booming, and TikTok is full of sharp, creative female sports voices who already know how to connect with fans. But Halo entered that space without cultural fluency or credible insight. Instead of learning from existing communities, collaborating with creators or grounding the channel in authentic perspectives, the strategy treated women as a niche that needed a softer, cuter version of sport in order to engage. The result felt outdated at a moment when female fans are driving some of the most exciting developments in the industry.
Halo’s rapid shutdown shows that building for women in sport requires more than pink branding and surface-level assumptions. To succeed, brands need to start with real listening, leverage genuine voices and create content that reflects how women already show up in sports culture. TikTok rewards authenticity and calls out inauthenticity instantly. Halo did not fail because women lack interest in sport, it failed because it misread them. The next broadcaster willing to approach this space with respect, insight and collaboration will unlock something far more powerful, and the appetite for that is only growing.
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