Barney Francis

Managing Director, Sky Sport

Barney Francis has been a crucial player in the commercialisation of British sport as managing director of the Sky Sports group of channels since 2009. He is responsible for Sky output across six channels, plus Sky Sports News HD, as well as online and mobile content. Francis has managed the acquisition of rights to the F1 and the Masters, and is credited with Sky’s first exclusively live coverage of England’s domestic test cricket matches. Though Sky lost its rights to show the Champions League to main rival BT Sport in 2015, the Premier League remains the jewel in Sky’s crown, and Francis maintains it is ‘seven times bigger’ by viewing figures. Sky Sports became the sole broadcaster of England cricket in 2015, and Sky Sports 2 was renamed Sky Sports Ashes to reflect its coverage of the tournament, which included the Women’s Ashes. Sky Sports was also the UK’s most popular digital sport platform in 2015, seeing a 175% increase in online video views.