By Matt Scott
February 11 – As the champagne corks were being swept from the floors of Premier League club boardrooms this morning, Sky shareholders were scrambling for the exit.
The stockmarket reacted with dismay at the staggering £5.136 billion deal Sky has largely underwritten for three years of Premier League coverage from the 2016-17 season.
Although the purchase of 126 matches protects Sky’s core business offering, shareholders in its parent company, BSkyB, were counting the cost to their capital. The £1.392bn Sky will pay every year for the rights – 83% more than the annual cost of matches in the current rights cycle – led to the company’s share price instantly shedding more than 4% of its value.
But there were beneficiaries from the stampede out of Sky. BT’s more-frugal approach towards retaining what it already owned – it will pay £320 million a year for its two packages amounting to 42 matches – was up only 18% on the current cycle, and with four more matches in the next one it will also receive 10.5% more content.
Shareholders backed BT’s status as the junior partner in the deal in early trading and there was a pop in its value today.
BT share trading
Source: Google Finance
But it is clear who are the biggest winners in the whole process: the clubs. Manchester United saw an upward spike in their share price.
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