DCWat wrote:I enjoyed watching the CL on occasion, when SKY had it. Barring the odd game that I’d have liked to have watched, I’ve not missed it and I’m not paying for another sports channel that I won’t watch much.
I’m hoping BT decide it’s not worth it with their viewing figures and it’s all soon back in one providers hands. We will probably never have a decent free to air football deal ever again, so the sooner it’s a single provider the better for the consumer.
Unlikely, BT has invested billions in this and unless they get the PL bidding wrong, or get outbid by another player coming in, they are here to stay. Even then (no PL) they will still have the smaller sports rights packages. Their entire business is underpinned by the sports/TV strategy now, mainly because a few years ago they saw that Sky was eating their very profitable lunch, namely broadband and voice subscriptions.
The law of unintended consequences is that the EU regulated years ago that no one provider could have access to all the PL rights. This was meant to be good for & protect consumers. What actually happened was that the bidding spiralled (some would say gradually out of control), the retail costs to the consumer spiralled (some would say gradually out of control) and that consumers now had to buy two packages. It was the classic case of some educated economists reading their manuals and getting it wrong.
I believe this particular EU remedy/regulation has now expired and that in theory Sky or a single other player could buy all Premier League rights. But the cost is at such a level now that it may be out of reach even for those businesses with very deep pockets. Interesting times.