BT Sport (UK)
Features
WWE gains full-spectrum UK coverage for 2020-23 cycle with Channel 5 deal
Channel 5’s free-to-air highlights deal with World Wrestling Entertainment will run for the same four-year period as WWE’s primary UK broadcast contract with BT Sport, SportBusiness Media understands.
BT looks to secure sports future with huge Champions League renewal
BT’s huge outlay for Uefa club competition rights in the 2021-24 cycle was driven by the UK telco's need to retain a viable sports broadcasting proposition.
UK, France may drive global Champions League revenue downturn
Uefa, European football’s governing body, could be on the verge of a sharp downturn in Champions League media-rights revenues for the 2021-24 cycle, with specific factors in the key UK and France markets exacerbating a broader price correction already anticipated for similar high-profile properties.
BT benefits from incumbent Sky’s OTT concerns in WWE grab
Pay-television broadcaster BT Sport took advantage of Sky’s long-running concerns over wrestling body WWE’s OTT service to grab WWE rights in the UK and Ireland from its rival at a steep discount, SportBusiness Media understands.
English FA spurns higher pay-TV revenue for free-to-air Cup reach
The Football Association rejected a higher bid for domestic FA Cup rights for the 2021-25 cycle from incumbent pay-television broadcaster BT Sport in favour of commercial broadcaster ITV, SportBusiness Media understands, in a move that took the competition exclusively free to air in the UK.
Speedway GP maintains UK income despite lack of competition in BT renewal
The value of FIM Speedway World Championship rights in the UK held up in a new three-year deal, from 2019 to 2021, despite incumbent rights-holder BT Sport facing no serious competition.
FA Cup ‘non-linear’ rights package opens door to Amazon
The FA has opened the market for FA Cup domestic rights to new competition with the inclusion of a ‘non-linear package’ – expected to attract interest from internet giant Amazon – in the tender for the 2021-22 to 2024-25 cycle, SportBusiness Media understands.
Star India’s OTT strategy in UK drives Sky IPL rights loss
Media company Star India’s plans to use the Indian Premier League to develop its Hotstar OTT platform in the UK drove pay-television broadcaster Sky’s loss of the property, SportBusiness Media understands.
Sky’s dominance of domestic football rights will help with customer retention
Sky’s renewal of the exclusive live rights to the English Football League and the stronger grip it has taken on the rights to the Scottish Professional Football League – to add to its dominance of Pre…
Low value of Premier League short-form content raises questions for league and clubs
The value of the English Premier League’s short-form content has rallied a little since the last sales cycle but still remains well down on its peak value over a decade ago.
Eleven Sports’ ‘3pm blackout’ challenge could see rule scrapped
Eleven Sports’ decision to break one of the golden rules of UK sports broadcasting – the ‘3pm blackout’ – has created a legal quandary that could result in it being scrapped altogether.
Eleve
IMG-backed Eleven takes UFC rights in UK and Ireland
Eleven Sports has acquired exclusive rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the UK and Ireland for the next three years, paying a lower minimum guarantee than its predecessor BT
Difficult sales process helps the Premier League in Ofcom battle
The Premier League’s 20 clubs are unconcerned about the small drop in the value of their domestic live rights in the next cycle, following deals this month with BT and Amazon that brought the protracted sales process to a close.
TV3 aggression in Ireland boosts Uefa club competition income
Strong competition in Ireland has helped Uefa seal a big increase for its club competition rights, as commercial broadcaster TV3 fell just short in its attempt to acquire all the rights on offer.
BT pays big increase to maintain loyal MotoGP subscriber base
Telco BT will pay an increase of about 140 per cent to keep hold of exclusive MotoGP media rights in the UK and Ireland.
End of BT/Sky pay-TV war halts trend of Premier League growth
After successive 70-per-cent rises in the last two cycles there were only two sets of circumstances in which the Premier League was likely to secure another increase in the value of its domestic live rights.
Sky’s EFL streaming concession creates Premier League dilemma
Media commentators will debate whether the 36-per-cent increase the English Football League secured for its rights from Sky is a great result, a disappointment, or something in between.
BoxNation and BT partnership expands to international bouts
BoxNation’s carriage and simulcast deal with BT Sport has been further enhanced after the two broadcasters acquired rights to the middleweight world title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Saúl Álvarez – the partnership’s first major acquisition since it began in February.
BeIN pays up for EPCR rights in France as UK deal draws closer
European Professional Club Rugby increased the value of its media rights in France by about 50 per cent late last month from deals with beIN Sports and France Télévisions.
BT confident it can monetise £1.2bn Uefa rights renewal
UK telco BT told TV Sports Markets this week it is “well-placed” to monetise its huge investment in rights to Uefa’s Champions League and Europa League.
Andy Haworth, head of strategy, BT Consumer
Interview with Andy Haworth, BT Consumer’s head of strategy, on the telco’s renewal of Uefa Champions League and Europa League rights from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
Football League considers its options as Sky ponders renewal
To secure an increase in the value of its domestic media rights, the English Football League must make pay-television operator Sky believe it is facing real competition and enable the bigger clubs to control their own digital services in a way that neither erodes Sky’s exclusivity nor upsets the smaller clubs.
Watching Brief (Vol.137) – UK television audience highlights
Mike Kiernan reviews UK viewing highlights between Monday 21st November and Sunday 4th December. Please note that data for BT Sport 1 is currently not available between Monday 28th November and Sunday 4th December.
Watching Brief (Vol.136) Special Focus: MotoGP World Championships
Will Partington, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for motorcycling’s MotoGP World Championship in selected European markets.