[jfman]

I've had some more thoughts:

• It's probably a sobering reality for the League that their product has been overhyped by themselves, and by Sky, that the rights are now clearly falling in value in real terms.
• Sky continue to overpay the market value of the rights even though they are paying less for more in real terms. The value to Sky, as the incumbent, is far greater as Dave42 points out above.
• Despite designing a process whereby there could have (theoretically) been three winners of packages with 'week in, week out' matches throughout the season no bidders appeared.
• Or if they did, they bid in real terms less than the last auctions on a like for like basis and outside the 10% threshold at which the League would probably have moved to a second round of bids.

So where does the League go from here?

• Do they continue to try to design a product to get a 'streamer' on board despite them having passed up three opportunities to match the previous auction value in real terms?
• A longer window - 10 years - might guarantee a longer period in which to gain a return. However, that could guarantee a further decade of stagnating value if nobody appears and Sky once again win more for less.
• Knowing Sky are outbidding the rest of the market - substantially - and have done for decades is it in the interests of the League to continue to design packages that suit Sky?
• If Sky were to exit the market, the price would drop substantially, with nobody in place with a guaranteed funding model for future rights windows. In an increasingly competitive pay-tv market, the League's future funding is ever more intertwined with Sky's success in navigating it.

There were rumours of a streaming service lurking in the background of the proposed European Super League. Is that the only viable in to gain worldwide rights for a new product entirely?