Delta is adding Sport 24, a 24-hour live sports channel, to Delta Sync Wi-Fi on international routes beginning this fall. It is free, it runs on your own phone or laptop rather than the seatback, and the only thing you need to get in is a SkyMiles account, which also costs nothing.
Delta announced the partnership on August 31, 2026. Here is what is included, where it works, and the part most coverage will miss: the sports lineup on an international flight is not the sports lineup on a domestic one.
What Delta Announced
Delta is partnering with IMG, the sports marketing agency that owns and operates Sport 24. Delta describes Sport 24 as the first and only dedicated live sports channel available on airlines and cruise ships worldwide.
Two channels are included, Sport 24 and Sport 24 Extra. Both stream through Global Reach's platform and are reached from the Delta Sync Wi-Fi portal on a personal device.
The sports Delta names are the NFL, the NBA, the Premier League, UEFA competitions, Formula 1 and Grand Slam tennis. One detail in the release sets expectations correctly: live programming is "prioritized based on the most relevant event available at the time." This is a channel, not a menu. You watch what is on.
"Live sports bring people together across borders and time zones," said Ranjan Goswami, Delta's Chief Marketing and Product Officer. IMG's Richard Wise said Sport 24 has "more than 14 years of proven delivery."
Where It Works
Sport 24 is on international routes between the U.S. and destinations abroad. Delta says Delta Sync Wi-Fi itself is available on all international flights, with full coverage across its transatlantic network to Europe, Latin America, Israel and Africa.
Two coverage notes from the same release are worth writing down. Gate-to-gate connectivity on trans-pacific routes is coming this fall. And Delta's new Atlanta to Riyadh service launches with free Wi-Fi powered by T-Mobile.
The Domestic and International Lineups Are Different
This is the practical distinction, and Delta puts it in a footnote rather than a headline.
On domestic flights, Delta lists FOX One for NFL on FOX, MLB, NASCAR, IndyCar and college football; UFC on CBS through Paramount+; Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football on aircraft equipped with Live TV; The Athletic for written coverage; and SkyPicks, a head-to-head picks game for SkyMiles members aged 21 and over.
Delta marks the FOX One lineup, the Live TV Thursday Night Football and SkyPicks as not available on international flights. The Paramount+ UFC access is listed as available domestically and on flights originating in the U.S.
So the honest summary is this. Domestically you get a set of streaming partners and a picks game. Internationally you get Sport 24 and Sport 24 Extra. They are different products, and knowing which flight you are on tells you which one you have.
How to Turn It On
Four steps, and none of them cost anything.
Have a SkyMiles account before you board. Delta Sync is unlocked through SkyMiles membership, and membership is free. Signing up at 38,000 feet is a worse experience than signing up at the gate.
Connect to Delta Sync Wi-Fi and log in with your SkyMiles credentials. The portal is where the sports player lives.
Open Sport 24 on your own device. This is not seatback entertainment. Bring headphones that work with a phone rather than the two-prong armrest jack.
Check what is actually on. Because programming is prioritized to the most relevant live event, the game you want may not be the game showing. That is the nature of a single live channel.
What This Is Worth
Free live sports on a long-haul flight is a real improvement over a seatback library, and it is the kind of benefit that costs a traveler nothing to use. Our look at how airline entertainment has evolved covers where the rest of the industry sits.
It is worth being clear about what it is not. It is not a reason to pick a credit card. Delta Sync and Sport 24 are unlocked by free SkyMiles membership, so if you are weighing the Delta SkyMiles cards, weigh them on lounge access, checked bags and companion certificates rather than on this. The Delta SkyMiles Platinum card earns its fee on those, not on Wi-Fi entertainment that is already included.
The short version: if you fly Delta internationally this fall, you now have a live sports channel included with the Wi-Fi you were already logging into. Set up the SkyMiles account before the flight and it is a two-tap benefit.
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