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

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

Could not agree more the FA have overseen this mess. They are supposed to be the controlling body of football in this Country ,it seems to me the Premier League say jump and they do. The FA needs to assert its authority.

100% agree with this statement. The FA have no control whatsoever over english football. All they can do is create panels to look at why we're failing, any suggestions the panel create won't be implemented as it'll impact the premier league too much.

Scudamore runs english football. He's in the business of making money for himself and his organisation. He is not interested in the english national team or promoting english young footballers as it wont "put bums in seats" then he's selling the game abroad. He wants the top players to attract the top sale rights as he's in a business not a sport.

Foreign owners won't get involved in anything to improve english football as they're in the club owning business to make money. Totally different to german football again. There can be no foreign owners in the bundesliga. German owners are united in their loyalty to the german national team and the development of young german players even if it impacts their first team for a few years. It's a healthy environment for development rather than the corrupt, money hungry, greed of the premier league.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Wonder whether we'll see a wholesale deal between Sky Sports and BT Sport , people in the city seem to be suggesting its a possibility.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/...s-vodafone-fox

Who knows what the future holds as two years ago there was no BT Sports so who can predict the next few years confidently.

[greeninferno]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

100% agree with this statement. The FA have no control whatsoever over english football. All they can do is create panels to look at why we're failing, any suggestions the panel create won't be implemented as it'll impact the premier league too much.

Scudamore runs english football. He's in the business of making money for himself and his organisation. He is not interested in the english national team or promoting english young footballers as it wont "put bums in seats" then he's selling the game abroad. He wants the top players to attract the top sale rights as he's in a business not a sport.

Foreign owners won't get involved in anything to improve english football as they're in the club owning business to make money. Totally different to german football again. There can be no foreign owners in the bundesliga. German owners are united in their loyalty to the german national team and the development of young german players even if it impacts their first team for a few years. It's a healthy environment for development rather than the corrupt, money hungry, greed of the premier league.

This Summer's WC may well be the tipping point -the current England team is awful and 3 bad hidings may well see uproar and groundswell for change.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by greeninferno

This Summer's WC may well be the tipping point -the current England team is awful and 3 bad hidings may well see uproar and groundswell for change.

From some maybe......

[harry_hitch]

Originally Posted by greeninferno

This Summer's WC may well be the tipping point -the current England team is awful and 3 bad hidings may well see uproar and groundswell for change.

It's been called for before though. I can't remember after which tournament it was (possibly 06) where the FA said there would be a root and branch investigation. I don't recall seeing much of an outcome from that "investigation". If there was an outcome, it is not really working yet.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by harry_hitch

It's been called for before though. I can't remember after which tournament it was (possibly 06) where the FA said there would be a root and branch investigation. I don't recall seeing much of an outcome from that "investigation". If there was an outcome, it is not really working yet.

I cannot see there being any major change unless the FA assert their authority over the Premier League and literally change the face of English football.
The FA need to change so much at grass roots, for many years I was involved in Junior football until about 7 years ago, where there was so much emphasis on speed and power. The small kids who had the technical skills were pushed to the back of the que, because it was all winning and not learning how pay the game with style and technique. From what I see and hear nothing much has changed.

[muppetman11]

Vodafone and BSkyB 'in partnership talks' to rival BT

This story doesn't seem to be going away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...-rival-BT.html

[Dave42]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Vodafone and BSkyB 'in partnership talks' to rival BT

This story doesn't seem to be going away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...-rival-BT.html

well sky was always going to fight back MM

[telegramsam]

They will have to because BT don`t look as though they will go away as other `rivals` have done in the past.

[harry_hitch]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Vodafone and BSkyB 'in partnership talks' to rival BT

This story doesn't seem to be going away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...-rival-BT.html

Indeed, interesting times ahead. I wonder how (or if) BT and EE will respond.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Dave42

well sky was always going to fight back MM

Indeed rivals must be wary as Sky has a track record of once a few tanks land on their lawn they tend to send in a full tank division in reply.

[alwaysabear]

Which ever way these two go it will be us the consumer who pays. Competition within sports rights does nothing for the consumer, all it will achieve is higher prices for us.

[OLD BOY]

I found this quite interesting:

http://advanced-television.com/2014/...ut-sky-global/

Credit Suisse, in a report to clients, suggests that while the English Premier League contracts are still up in the air the market can relax about any prospects of a ‘super-merger’ between BSkyB, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. The original thought came from a report from UBS a few days ago.

Indeed, the Credit Suisse media team says that the idea currently is somewhat far-fetched, and “it makes little sense to expect any Merger or Acquisition activity ahead of the Premier League auction, scheduled for next winter.

Nevertheless, the market is still nervous about BSkyB and speculation that a wealthy heavy-hitter such as Vodafone could come in and steal the asset away from Rupert Murdoch’s clutches. UBS also mentioned O2 as being a possible suitor for Sky’s broadcasting portfolio.

Of course, the reverse scenario is also true. A revitalised BSkyB, helped by increased profitability from products such as Adsmart, Sky Go, NowTV and the other established Sky revenue centres (Sky+, Multiroom, etc) could still be an attractive prospect even ahead of the EPL auction.

One pundit suggested that Sky Europe, comprising BSkyB, Sky-D and Sky-Italia could itself buy (targeting O2, Telefonica or Vodafone) or create a cellular product and become a true Quad-Play prospect – and on a European scale, and could then begin to call the negotiating shots for sports, movies and traditional TV content.

To those readers who believe this is all wishful thinking then simply go back a few years (to 2001) when ‘Sky Global’ was a planned umbrella company (headed by Chase Carey). At the time it was suggested that Lachlan Murdoch could run the business (which at the time included a 22 per cent stake that BSkyB held in Kirch Group’s Premiere World). The Sky Global idea at the time was to add BSkyB, Star TV, Foxtel and Sky Latin America. That potential mix has changed somewhat, but “never say never” is our advice in any plans that involve Rupert Murdoch.

[andy_m]

To those readers who say this is all wishful thinking go back a few years to something that didn't happen then, either.

[muppetman11]

Sorry to sound thick Andy but could you explain ?

Upon reading posts back would I be right in assuming your referring to the failed BSKYB takeover by News Corp due to the hacking scandal ?