BSkyB and BT spent £3bn to show Premier League
Shares in BskyB and BT have fallen after markets reacted to their decision to pay £3bn to receive legal rights to broadcast English Premier League football.
BSky’s shares fell by seven per cent and BT’s by three per cent.
BT is to show 38 games a season in 2013-14 and the remaining 116 games will be shown by BskyB.
BskyB is paying £760m per season, which is more than 30 per cent per year than BT is paying.
“The cost is higher than expected, and BT arguably looks a more potent competitor than ESPN, even if we have some doubts over its content strategy and pay TV product performance to date,” commented Investec analyst Steve Liechti.
BT, the oldest telecommunication service company in the world, has first choice of matches for 18 of its 38 games which other second broadcasters had not been offered, said Richard Scudamore, Premier League Chief Executive.
The price of the current UK agreement has increased by 70 per cent since the last rights were sold for 2010-11.