[Doug P]

Not true BT had the upper hand. They wanted a subscription system on VM as they keep trumpeting their desire to sell their broadband. Quote from Telegraph in late July:

"On top of its historic strength in landlines, BT is investing £2.5bn to upgrade its broadband network to fibre, and has made a foray into TV, through YouView. BT Sport is designed to help attract and retain broadband customers. “Fibre is the absolute heart of our strategy,” says Petter, whose remit covers telephony, broadband and TV."

Or they didn't have VM in any palm anyway. This deal smacks of a climbdown to get more advertising money and viewers rather than the oft stated aim (which doesn't seem to be working if figures are to be believed) of using the sport to sell fibre....