By Andrew Warshaw
June 13 – The financial might of top-flight English football reached new heights today when the Premier League announced it had sold its next three-year live television broadcast package in the United Kingdom to BSkyB and BT for a staggering £3.018 billion ($4.7 billion/€3.7 billion) – a £1.254 billion ($1.95 billion/€1.55 billion) increase on the current deal.
Sky secured five of the seven deals for 2013-2014 to 2015-2016, totalling 116 matches a year, while BT, a significant new player on the block, replaced ESPN by acquiring the rights for 32 games including eight of the 38 first-choice picks.
With Sky paying £760 million ($1.18 billion/€939 million) a year and £2.3 billion ($3.58 billion/€2.84 billion) in all, the new agreement represents £6.6 million ($10.3 million/€8.15 million) per match – up from the current £4.7 million ($7.3 million/€5.8 million).
The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore (pictured top), said the climax to last season, when Manchester City dramatically won the title in injury time on the final day, contributed to the increase.
“We have just come off the back of a fantastic season and it has been good for us,” said Scudamore.
“We went to the market at the right time.
“It was a very competitive process, which if you are selling is a very good thing.”
Much interest will now centre on how BT, which is paying £246 million ($383 million/€304 million) a year even though it has no broadcasting pedigree, will exploit its expensive new acquisition.
The telecommunications giant said it would launch a new football-focused channel.
“It will offer new interactive features when supplied over BT’s fibre network and we will look to distribute it on other platforms,” a BT statement said.
Full details and pricing would be published in due course but one unknown factor will be whether the millions who subscribe to ESPN will be able to access the BT channel without taking on additional equipment or paying a substantially greater fee than at present.
Speculation is likely to focus on whether BT will do a deal with Gulf-based Al Jazeera, increasingly influential players in the television rights market.
“We welcome BT as a new Premier League broadcast partner,” said Scudamore.
“They are a substantial British company that is at the leading edge of technology and infrastructure development.”
He said BT would “deliver new ways in which fans will be able to follow the competition” without providing details of what could well be a multi-platform arrangement.
“The continuing support of BSkyB for Premier League football is significant beyond the revenues delivered – the longevity and quality of their commitment has done much for the English game as a whole,” Scudamore added.
Under the new agreement, BT will show 28 Saturday lunchtime games, including the opening game of the season, and 10 matches taking place on bank holidays or midweek evenings.
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