[denphone]

Originally Posted by andy_m

And it's correct. The issue is that BT want to out bid Sky and own a larger rights portfolio. That was the case this time and their stated aim for next time around as well. What happened this time was that BT did actually out bid Sky with a record bid. The Premier League then went back to Sky and offered them the chance to top the BT bid, which they did.

So the result of all that is that Sky ended up with what they wanted, whilst BT ended up with something akin to what ESPN had been showing for the last couple of years ie. the status quo was largely maintained, except the cost had been largely inflated. And that cost is inevitably passed on to the consumer. Sky Sports has increased, and we've yet to see the impact of Virgin's deal with BT but I'm sure they'll announce an annual price increase soon as it's almost twelve months since the last one. The cost of BT Sport as a subscription option is higher than ESPN was.

Dave42 is right in my opinion. BT clearly want to get more from the next rights auction, whilst Sky have shown no indication that they're prepared to give up their positron as top dog. So, unless in the meantime something happens which forces a shake up of the current system and introduces real competition for the benefit of the consumer, I expect another record breaking rights auction next time round followed by more price rises.

As usual you chaps have summed up the likely future scenario perfectly.