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

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by telegramsam

Like most people I only have so much money to spend so as the cost of watching football goes up there will come a point when I will have to choose either Sky Sports or BT Sports. At present I get BT Sports bundled in with my tv package so it isn`t too bad but if that ever changes then obviously I will have to review the situation.
I agree it was better when Sky had all the domestic football and ITV/B.B.C had the internationals and Champions league etc

I do understand that there is a limit we can pay for sports and it is getting a bit much, but I don't get your statement that it was better when Sky had all the domestic football. Now that BT are involved, you get some of it 'free' with the XL pack. You had to pay Sky for all the football before.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I do understand that there is a limit we can pay for sports and it is getting a bit much, but I don't get your statement that it was better when Sky had all the domestic football. Now that BT are involved, you get some of it 'free' with the XL pack. You had to pay Sky for all the football before.

I agree with you Old Boy. It's a Forum Myth that it was better when Sky had all the matches as 1) Competition has resulted in more matches being televised 2) The cost of Sky Sports has only kept pace with inflation. See previous posts evidencing this.

[Gavin-D]

In another blow to BT TV Customers with Sky Sports the Ryder cup will be on Sky Sports 4 which will re-brand as Sky Sports Ryder Cup from 6am on Thursday, September 18 until 6am on Thursday, October 2

Sky Sports 4 will become ‘Sky Sports Ryder Cup’ and will show over 330 hours of golf across 14 days, including 36 hours of live coverage from Gleneagles.

The channel goes live at 6am on Thursday, September 18 and continues until 6am on Thursday, October 2, as Sky Sports shows exclusive coverage of the Ryder Cup for the 10th time.

http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news/...-biggest-event

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Gavin-D

In another blow to BT TV Customers with Sky Sports the Ryder cup will be on Sky Sports 4 which will re-brand as Sky Sports Ryder Cup from 6am on Thursday, September 18 until 6am on Thursday, October 2.

http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news/...-biggest-event

It's not really much of a blow as precious few BT TV customers have Sky Sports as it's not available on YouView, just the black BT Vision boxes.

[Dave42]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

It's not really much of a blow as precious few BT TV customers have Sky Sports as it's not available on YouView, just the black BT Vision boxes.

only sky sports 1+2 on bt so they doing so bt viewers cant watch it

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Dave42

only sky sports 1+2 on bt so they doing so bt viewers cant watch it

Possibly but only 0.02% of BT TV customers have BT Sport so it won't impact at the moment. I think it's more there because:
a) Sky may be forced to wholesale Sky Sports 1 & 2 to BT on YouView in the future.
b) To encourage subscribers to take all the Sky Sports channels.

[telegramsam]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I do understand that there is a limit we can pay for sports and it is getting a bit much, but I don't get your statement that it was better when Sky had all the domestic football. Now that BT are involved, you get some of it 'free' with the XL pack. You had to pay Sky for all the football before.

BT Sport isn`t free to all virgin customers only those on the higher tier packages,which in effect means you are paying for BT Sport. As Virgin say themselves ``BT Sport included..``, not `free`.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Ofcom is not permitted to get involved in the prices that the Premiership charges Sky and BT nor for how much Sky charges its own sports customers so please don't blame them.

Originally Posted by telegramsam

BT Sport isn`t free to all virgin customers only those on the higher tier packages,which in effect means you are paying for BT Sport. As Virgin say themselves ``BT Sport included..``, not `free`.

But you are on the XL pack, so you get it 'free' with your subscription, Sam. That's what I meant. I appreciate that not everyone has XL. I remain of the view that BT's presence in this area will ultimately be a good thing for sports fans.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I agree with you Old Boy. It's a Forum Myth that it was better when Sky had all the matches as 1) Competition has resulted in more matches being televised 2) The cost of Sky Sports has only kept pace with inflation. See previous posts evidencing this.

It's certainly not ideal now and for the die hard football fan is more expensive , if you now want access from next year to all Premier League and Champions league you need to take out two pay TV subscriptions , before Sky Sports covered this with some champions league and Europa League games also available FTA.

Whilst the current situation may offer the occasional sports fan a cheaper offering (ie included with BB or included in XL pack) it certainly doesn't benefit the football die hards , this will get even more expensive next season when BT introduce a charge for their Champions league games don't forget they already charge £3 for HD on BT TV and the Sky platform.

[telegramsam]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

But you are on the XL pack, so you get it 'free' with your subscription, Sam. That's what I meant. I appreciate that not everyone has XL. I remain of the view that BT's presence in this area will ultimately be a good thing for sports fans.

Yes I get BT Sport as part of my XL package but I was talkng in general. Mind you how long will BT sport be included in the XL package I wonder? What was the length of the deal between Virgin and BT? As BT spent an awful load of money on the Champions league right and Premier league right they`re sure to want to recoup their money,wont they?

[Chad]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I agree with you Old Boy. It's a Forum Myth that it was better when Sky had all the matches

Not really a forum myth, it's just peoples personal opinions. Personally I preferred when all football was available on SKY Sports and free-to-air TV. Not everyone will agree but the situation suited me more then, than it does now.

[Dave42]

[QUOTE=OLD BOY;35716569]But you are on the XL pack, so you get it 'free' with your subscription, Sam. That's what I meant. I appreciate that not everyone has XL. I remain of the view that BT's presence in this area will ultimately be a good thing for sports fans.[/QUOTE]

only thing that's done is put prices up and up so not that good of a thing

---------- Post added at 22:12 ---------- Previous post was at 22:11 ----------

Originally Posted by Chad

Not really a forum myth, it's just peoples personal opinions. Personally I preferred when all football was available on SKY Sports and free-to-air TV. Not everyone will agree but the situation suited me more then, than it does now.

total agree Chad mate

[Superblade7]

Originally Posted by Chad

Not really a forum myth, it's just peoples personal opinions. Personally I preferred when all football was available on SKY Sports and free-to-air TV. Not everyone will agree but the situation suited me more then, than it does now.

Completely agree Chad. In the days when only Sky had the Premiership and other sports rights you had the choice of whether to subscribe to Sky Sports or not. It was a simple choice for the consumer.

However as others have pointed out, since the dawn of Setanta, ESPN and now BT Sport the competition has not really helped the consumer due to the cost increases and the fact that you now have to subscribe to two (or potentially more dependant on your interests) providers instead of just one.

Whilst competition is good for a consumer market, it is only good on comparable products. For example, if I want to buy a coffee, I can choose a local cafe, Starbucks, Costa, etc, and choose which provider I want based on my preferred taste and the price I am willing to pay. But ultimately I can get a coffee from any of them.

However, with sports rights, the fact is that Sky & BT offer completely different products as other than Premiership rights, they both have exclusive deals for the other sports they show. Whilst they keep trying to get one up on the other and pay overinflated prices for football rights it is only going to affect us, the consumer, as realistically there is no competition in this field, only a choice of whether to have none, some or all sports and the more you choose, the more you pay.

[colin25]

Originally Posted by Superblade7

Completely agree Chad. In the days when only Sky had the Premiership and other sports rights you had the choice of whether to subscribe to Sky Sports or not. It was a simple choice for the consumer.

However as others have pointed out, since the dawn of Setanta, ESPN and now BT Sport the competition has not really helped the consumer due to the cost increases and the fact that you now have to subscribe to two (or potentially more dependant on your interests) providers instead of just one.

Whilst competition is good for a consumer market, it is only good on comparable products. For example, if I want to buy a coffee, I can choose a local cafe, Starbucks, Costa, etc, and choose which provider I want based on my preferred taste and the price I am willing to pay. But ultimately I can get a coffee from any of them.

However, with sports rights, the fact is that Sky & BT offer completely different products as other than Premiership rights, they both have exclusive deals for the other sports they show. Whilst they keep trying to get one up on the other and pay overinflated prices for football rights it is only going to affect us, the consumer, as realistically there is no competition in this field, only a choice of whether to have none, some or all sports and the more you choose, the more you pay.

+1

I couldn't be bothered posting, recognised that for some...if they can point to sky as big bad provider, their day is complete. And nothing is for free, Virgin is not a benevolent company...more myths bust

[vincerooney]

Aye I remember the day they announced sky couldn't have all the premier league rights and split the rights up proclaiming "this will be great news for the consumer and provide competition which will push down prices"

Rather than paying one subscription and getting everything the consumer now has to pay two subscriptions as both companies continue to raise their prices with nothing seemingly to stop them