What is Sport 5?
Sport 5 is an Israeli sports television operation that publishes at sport5.co.il under the Hebrew name ספורט 5, rendered on the site itself as ערוץ הספורט. The site is organised as a news and results service and as the front door to a set of channels; its own pages run Israeli and international football and basketball coverage alongside schedules, video and match reports.[1]
The channel portfolio is set out on the operation's own broadcast schedule page, which carries tabs for ספורט 5, ספורט 5+, ספורט LIVE, 5 Stars, 5MAX, ספורט GOLD, 5MOBILE and ספורט 4K, with a further tab for live broadcasts.[2] A schedule published by a separate Israeli sports site on 19 September 2026 listed the Israeli sports channel family as Sport 1 through Sport 6.[6]
The corporate position is reported here only as far as the retrieved sources carry it. No filing or company page naming the operator of the Sport 5 channels could be retrieved, and no retrieved source connects the channels named below to Sport 5. Haaretz reported on 16 September 2020, in an account of Eli Azur's purchase of the news site Walla from Bezeq for 65 million shekels, that Azur also owns "the English-language Jerusalem Post", "the Maariv daily, radio stations 103FM and Eco99, the Charlton sports channels and a billboard advertising firm".[4] Globes had reported on 11 August 2020 that Azur "owns the Jerusalem Post and Maariv newspapers and has a stake in some of Israel's leading sports channels and radio stations".[5]
What does Sport 5 cover?
The site's own listing of what it carries runs to two broad blocks. In football it names Ligat ha'Al and the Israeli National League, and the English, Spanish, German, Italian, French and Dutch leagues, together with the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. In basketball it names the Israeli leagues, the EuroLeague and the NBA.[1]
Beyond the two league sports the same listing names MotoGP, Formula 1, tennis, judo, handball and volleyball.[1] These are the outlet's own statements of what it carries rather than a rights register, and no dated rights contract or tender document for any of the properties could be retrieved, so no term dates are given here.
Editorial output extends past live coverage. On 12 August 2024 the site published a consolidated account of Israel's medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, listing seven medals with the athlete, event, medal colour and, for four of them, the date: Peter Paltchik's bronze in judo up to 100 kg and Inbar Lanir's and Raz Hershko's silvers on 1 August 2024, Artem Dolgopyat's floor silver on 3 August 2024, and the golds and silvers in the iQFoil windsurfing events and the rhythmic gymnastics group competition.[3]
How large is Sport 5's audience?
No audited audience figure for the Sport 5 channels could be retrieved. The site of the Israeli audience measurement committee, ועדת המדרוג, could not be fetched, and neither the outlet's site nor its broadcast schedule page publishes ratings, reach or share data.[1][2]
Traffic estimators are not audited measurement and no estimate from one is given here in place of a measured figure. Nor is a channel count an audience figure: the eight named channels on the outlet's own schedule describe distribution, not viewing.[2]
What can be dated is the scale of the events the channels carry. The Israeli Premier League administration reported total attendance of 2,280,759 across the 2025/26 Ligat ha'Al season, against 1,809,420 in 2024/25 — a gate figure for the competition rather than a viewing figure for any broadcaster.[7]
Since when has Sport 5 existed?
No founding date for the operation could be established from a source retrieved here. Neither the outlet's own site nor its broadcast schedule page states when the channels began broadcasting or when the company behind them was formed, and no company filing could be retrieved.[1][2]
What can be dated is ownership, and only from press reports. Globes reported on 11 August 2020 that Eli Azur was the frontrunner to buy Walla from Bezeq and described him as holding a stake in Israeli sports channels.[5] Haaretz reported on 16 September 2020 that the purchase had been made, at 65 million shekels, of which 55 million was cash and 10 million was to be paid in free advertising on Walla over seven years, and that Azur's holdings include the Charlton sports channels.[4]
The site's own dated output can be anchored no further back than the material retrieved: an Olympic summary published on 12 August 2024 and a broadcast schedule current to September 2026.[3][2] Founding, first broadcast and change of ownership are three different dates and only the third is documented here.
Why does Sport 5 matter in Israel's sport?
The answer is carriage rather than opinion. Israeli football and basketball above club level are played inside European competition — the UEFA Europa League for Maccabi Tel Aviv's footballers and the EuroLeague for its basketball club — and the outlet's own listing names both the Champions League and the Europa League in football and the EuroLeague and the NBA in basketball, alongside Ligat ha'Al and the Israeli basketball leagues.[1] The same listing therefore names both the domestic competition and the continental competition the same clubs enter.
Its own schedule carries eight named channels and a live tab.[2] Whether that distribution converts into viewing cannot be stated here, because no audited measurement could be retrieved.
The outlet also functions as a record of results. Its consolidated Paris 2024 account, published on 12 August 2024, names each Israeli medallist with the event and the medal colour, which is the kind of dated summary a reader looking for a completed achievement rather than a live broadcast needs.[3]
References
- ערוץ הספורט — sport5.co.il, own site and listing of what it carries. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- ערוץ הספורט — broadcast schedule and channel tabs. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- ערוץ הספורט — Israel's medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 12 August 2024. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Haaretz — Jerusalem Post owner Eli Azur buys Walla from Bezeq, 16 September 2020. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Globes — Azur frontrunner to buy Walla from Bezeq, 11 August 2020. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- ספורט 1 — Israeli sports channel broadcast schedule, week of 19 September 2026. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- ספורט 1 — Ligat ha'Al season attendance, league administration figures, 25 May 2026. Accessed 2026-09-20.