General : ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by denphone

So basically BT for all their big talk have been blown out of the water.

Yup, looks like it Den...

[telegramsam]

Originally Posted by denphone

So basically BT for all their big talk have been blown out of the water.

Hate cricket so not bothered personally but maybe BT didn`t try to hard because they have their eyes on something else?

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by telegramsam

Hate cricket so not bothered personally but maybe BT didn`t try to hard because they have their eyes on something else?

Me too mate, and you may have a good point there.

[Dave42]

and you can guarantee sky will make sure they win the next football rights

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by telegramsam

Hate cricket so not bothered personally but maybe BT didn`t try to hard because they have their eyes on something else?

I dare say they have and I'm sure they'll go all out to capture more Premier league football however in my opinion their channels are very thinly spread with decent sporting content , I suppose this will be helped by the Champions League contract once that kicks in.

Maybe Sky have secured these and many other rights to make their channels still have appeal should they not gain as many Premier League matches at the next rights auction.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I dare say they have and I'm sure they'll go all out to capture more Premier league football however in my opinion their channels are very thinly spread with decent sporting content.

Maybe Sky have secured these and many other rights to make their channels still have appeal should they not gain as many Premier League matches at the next rights auction.

I think La Liga aside they have a much better portfolio of European Leagues, and MLS is a smart move given their ESPN branding, but I've always said that their Premier League package doesn't amount to much and I can't honestly see how they'll improve it. Their coverage really isn't as good as Sky and the Premier League have got to consider brand associations when the next rights package comes up. Sky's "preferred bidder" status got them the opportunity to bid again after they'd been beaten by BT in the last round and, given whatv they've done with the meagre rights they did win I've absolutely no reason to think that will change. The only obstacle to Sky getting the best rights packages again, imo, will be whether or not they (Sky) draw a line in terms of how much they're prepared to pay for them.

[Gavin-D]

Originally Posted by telegramsam

Hate cricket so not bothered personally but maybe BT didn`t try to hard because they have their eyes on something else?

I would guess the premier league given the bidding is due to open up later this year or early next, but you can be assured sky will be bidding very strongly to make sure BT's offering remains low

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by andy_m

I think La Liga aside they have a much better portfolio of European Leagues, and MLS is a smart move given their ESPN branding, but I've always said that their Premier League package doesn't amount to much and I can't honestly see how they'll improve it. Their coverage really isn't as good as Sky and the Premier League have got to consider brand associations when the next rights package comes up. Sky's "preferred bidder" status got them the opportunity to bid again after they'd been beaten by BT in the last round and, given whatv they've done with the meagre rights they did win I've absolutely no reason to think that will change. The only obstacle to Sky getting the best rights packages again, imo, will be whether or not they (Sky) draw a line in terms of how much they're prepared to pay for them.

Your post perfectly illustrates my point , personally I'm not sure how massive a pull those European leagues are.

I quite like my football but honestly wouldn't entertain half the foreign leagues on BT Sport I guess I'm not a die hard enough football fan for that.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Your post perfectly illustrates my point , personally I'm not sure how massive a pull those European leagues are.

I quite like my football but honestly wouldn't entertain half the foreign leagues on BT Sport I guess I'm not a die hard enough football fan for that.our post perfectly illustrates my point , personally I'm not sure how massive a pull those European leagues are.

I quite like my football but honestly wouldn't entertain half the foreign leagues on BT Sport I guess I'm not a die hard enough football fan for that.

Well put MM........

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Well put MM........

my editing and copy and paste went a little wrong , edited correctly now

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Your post perfectly illustrates my point , personally I'm not sure how massive a pull those European leagues are.

I quite like my football but honestly wouldn't entertain half the foreign leagues on BT Sport I guess I'm not a die hard enough football fan for that.

No, I'm not sure I am either. But your point was that the BT channels are too thinly spread with "decent" content. As far as football goes the foreign leagues on BT Sport include 3 of the top 5 (the other two being the Premier League, which they have limited rights to and La Liga) so it's hard to argue that Sky's answer to BT's Champions League rights - Sky Sports 5, which consists of what they already had, plus the Dutch League and Euro qualifiers - is more "decent". Popular, maybe. Attractive to a UK audience, perhaps. But better? I don't know.

Either way I'm splitting hairs.

What Sky are doing very well is making themselves the home of ... various sports. It's inconceivable to think that they won't continue to be the home of the Premier League.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by denphone

So basically BT for all their big talk have been blown out of the water.

I think it would have been hard for BT to win. The global were successfully renewed globally by News Corporation's Star Sports subsidiaries. According to Sky Sports' press release "STAR has been awarded the global rights from the ICC and Sky Sports has an exclusive arrangement with STAR for broadcast in UK and Ireland."
http://www1.skysports.com/cricket/ne...tional-cricket

---------- Post added at 19:34 ---------- Previous post was at 19:28 ----------

Originally Posted by andy_m

Sky's "preferred bidder" status got them the opportunity to bid again after they'd been beaten by BT in the last round and, given whatv they've done with the meagre rights they did win I've absolutely no reason to think that will change. The only obstacle to Sky getting the best rights packages again, imo, will be whether or not they (Sky) draw a line in terms of how much they're prepared to pay for them.

No broadcaster has preferred bidder rights. If the bids are close, the Premier League may at its discretion invite all parties to re-bid. This is what happened in the last round of bids.
It is quite conceivable that BT may now bid more keenly on Premier League rights now that recent key rights have been retained by Sky. Put another way, the Premier League rights will be worth more to BT than Sky.

[devilincarnate]

Did anyone read this?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...ion-tv-4420592

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I think it would have been hard for BT to win. The global were successfully renewed globally by News Corporation's Star Sports subsidiaries. According to Sky Sports' press release "STAR has been awarded the global rights from the ICC and Sky Sports has an exclusive arrangement with STAR for broadcast in UK and Ireland."
http://www1.skysports.com/cricket/ne...tional-cricket

---------- Post added at 19:34 ---------- Previous post was at 19:28 ----------

No broadcaster has preferred bidder rights. If the bids are close, the Premier League may at its discretion invite all parties to re-bid. This is what happened in the last round of bids.
It is quite conceivable that BT may now bid more keenly on Premier League rights now that recent key rights have been retained by Sky. Put another way, the Premier League rights will be worth more to BT than Sky.

I put "preferred bidder" in speech marks because I'm aware that they were unofficially so. Nonetheless, they were invited to increase their bid to beat off BT, who were not then invited to do the same. It's clear that they were the Premier League's preferred partner.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by devilincarnate

Did anyone read this?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...ion-tv-4420592

Sadly the madness will continue and the punter will be the one still paying for it at the end of the day.