How to Watch the IPL 2026 in the UK

For the 2026 Indian Premier League in the UK, the home of the tournament is Sky Sports. Sky Sports Cricket holds the exclusive UK rights to the IPL through 2027 and shows every match — the full league phase, the playoffs and the final — with its full studio coverage. The contract-free way to get that same coverage without a Sky TV subscription is NOW (formerly NOW TV), which streams the Sky Sports channels on a rolling pass. So there are two routes to the same feed: Sky Sports for existing Sky subscribers, and NOW for a streaming, no-contract option. The IPL's huge UK following — drawn from one of the largest Indian diaspora communities anywhere — makes this one of the most-asked "where to watch" questions in UK cricket.

Sky Sports Cricket is the exclusive UK broadcaster of the IPL, holding the rights through 2027, and it carries every match of the tournament — all of the league phase, both eliminators and the qualifiers, and the final — with the full Sky Sports cricket production and studio analysis. For a UK fan, this is the comprehensive route: there is no match of the IPL you cannot watch on Sky's coverage. Sky Sports Cricket is available through a Sky TV subscription with the Sky Sports channels, watchable on the box and through the Sky Go app on phones, tablets and other devices for existing subscribers. The IPL sits alongside Sky's wider cricket portfolio — England internationals, other major tournaments — so for a fan who already has Sky Sports for cricket, the IPL is part of the existing package. Check Sky's current UK pricing for the Sky Sports channels. For every IPL match in the UK, Sky Sports Cricket is the home.

NOW — the streaming service formerly known as NOW TV — is the contract-free way to watch the IPL in the UK without taking a full Sky TV subscription. NOW streams the Sky Sports channels, including Sky Sports Cricket, through a Sky Sports Membership, which can be bought on a rolling monthly basis or, where offered, on shorter passes. That means a UK fan can stream the same Sky IPL coverage — every match — on a no-contract basis, and stop when the tournament ends. NOW is streaming-only and runs on the usual range of devices — smart TVs, streaming sticks, games consoles, phones, tablets and the web — so it suits a viewer who wants the Sky cricket coverage without a dish or a long contract. For the IPL specifically, because the tournament runs in a concentrated window, the rolling NOW Sky Sports Membership is a natural fit: pay for the months the IPL is on, watch every match, and cancel afterwards. Check NOW's current UK Sky Sports Membership pricing at sign-up. It is the same Sky feed as a Sky TV subscription — just streamed, and contract-free.

It is worth being clear on one likely wrong turn, because it is a natural assumption. TNT Sports — the UK home of a lot of other sport, and a brand a UK viewer might associate with international rights — does not hold the UK rights to the IPL. The IPL in the UK is Sky Sports' exclusively, through 2027, with NOW as the streaming route to the same Sky coverage. If you were checking TNT Sports for the IPL, that is not the route; the answer is Sky Sports (or NOW for the contract-free version of the same feed). There is also no free-to-air UK broadcaster carrying live IPL matches — the rights sit exclusively with Sky. So the two real routes are Sky Sports Cricket via a Sky subscription, or the same coverage streamed through a NOW Sky Sports Membership. Anything else you may see is not the live UK home of the tournament.

Not live. The live IPL matches in the UK sit behind Sky's coverage — either a Sky TV subscription (Sky Sports Cricket) or a NOW Sky Sports Membership for the streamed, contract-free version. There is no free-to-air UK broadcaster showing live IPL matches. Free content is limited to highlights and clips on the IPL's and the franchises' official channels, which appear after matches. For live cricket, one of the two Sky routes is required. On timing: India is generally four and a half to five and a half hours ahead of the UK (the offset shifts with British Summer Time). IPL matches are typically an afternoon and evening event in India, which lands well for UK fans. The afternoon IPL matches (around 3:30 p.m. Indian time) air late morning in the UK, and the marquee evening matches (around 7:30 p.m. Indian time) air at roughly 3:00 p.m. UK time during British Summer Time — a comfortable UK afternoon and early-evening watch, with no overnight viewing required. Check Matchcast for the exact UK start time of every IPL 2026 fixture, with the broadcaster listing on each match page.