Sky Television will let people watch Super Rugby games online from next week without requiring they sign up to its broadcast pay-television service but the charges are the catch.

A "season pass" to Super Rugby games will cost $299, or viewers can get a monthly online pass for $69 or a weekly one for $29.

NRL and Formula 1 will also be offered online and some other sports will follow, spokeswoman Kirsty Way said.

Season passes for NRL games and F1 races are also priced at $299, with monthly passes costing $59 and $49 respectively and weekly ones $19.90 and $24.90.

The passes are being sold through a website separate to Sky's main site, fanpass.co.nz.

The move follows through on a tentative proposal made by chief executive John Fellet in September, when he said "standalone" sports services could appeal to people on a limited budget or who didn't have much time to watch many sports.

He said then that he expected most customers would find its bundled offerings more attractive in the long term.

Subscribers will be able to watch matches and races live in HD, and later at a time of their choosing "on demand".

Word that Sky might split off sports, regarded as the crown jewels in its television offering, from its television entertainment packages and offer them for online viewing was met with surprise in some quarters last year. But Forsyth Barr analyst Blair Galpin had forecast Sky would price the services "carefully" so as not to undermine its broadcast business.

A pay-TV subscription with Sky Sports, My Sky HDI decoder and an "HD ticket" costs $99.74 a month.

Way defended Fan Pass' prices saying they were for "premium sports rights".

"We are running a business. Sky Sports is the main place to get sports but the public have said they are keen for other options.

"The whole business model falls over if you start undercutting your prime service. This is a sustainable way we can offer these very premium sports rights so customers can get those alone. It won't suit everybody."

Sky has faced competition from the likes of online television company Coliseum which bought the rights to English Premier League games and PGA golf. Fellet said it was better for Sky to "cannibalise" its own business than to let someone else do it.