SKY retain major Premier League rights

[Greg Bobkin]

All I care about is what this is going to mean for parachute payments. It won't be long before the top 6 championship will be exclusively Prem yoyo clubs.

I was thinking this even before the deal was announced. I honestly don't think it will be long before there are 17 permanent clubs in the PL, and the three that go down every year are the three that got promoted the previous summer.

Almost what Gartside wanted, however Bolton probably won't be one of the 'lucky' ones. It's the middle of the end, I fear...

 

[beorhthelm]

no it isn't, because it means the customer now has to fork out extra if he wants to watch all the games - bt sports wont be free for customers as of next season

stop this nonsence. no one has to watch all televised games, so there's a cheaper option for some who want to watch some football each week at home. i cant think of any other market where people make this ridiculous argument and pretend more competition costs the customer more because they have to buy all the alternatives. also, you dont know BT sports wont be free until they announce any change. the package frankly doesnt justify much premium and they'd lose customers without it.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

The demographics of supporters is more and more irrelevant. All the Premiership clubs could offer free entry given the small amount of that gate receipts have on their balance sheets. The problem is that you will never see again the likes of Nottingham Forest or Ipswich winning the the league unless they are "promoted" using a mega-rich owner. The club that suddenly gets their payday has become a franchise. Look at Man City a struggling top/second division club, large fan base but moderate investment. Suddenly bang, like Chelsea, they're the biggest club in the country. To the Arabs/Russian it could have been any club, they picked City and Chelsea. Is it jealousy? Possibly but I for one would prefer to see honest good hard work reap the benefit not simple ill gotten gains.

So we fill the ground with cardboard cut outs then ?
regards
DR

 

[rouseytastic]

I've lived without sky sports for about 3 years now. The odd prem game I fancy watching I just pop to the pub next door. The one aspect of it that really grinds my gears is not being able to watch all the F1. Pretty much ruins a Sunday for me if the race is on Sky.

 

[Mowgli37]

no it isn't, because it means the customer now has to fork out extra if he wants to watch all the games - bt sports wont be free for customers as of next season

I was unaware of that. Bugger.

 

[beorhthelm]

I was unaware of that. Bugger.

you weren't aware because its speculation, they haven't made any announcement on next season.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

So we fill the ground with cardboard cut outs then ?
regards
DR

No, problem is though for clubs lower down the pyramid. As has muted though I doubt will happen pricing for top clubs could come down this will again hit the likes of us. Just to stay competitive we have to price high to attempt, but fail, to break even. Premiership clubs can forget about the need to balance their books via their attendances. Also attendances in the Premiership are at the highest level yet.

There is no balance of wealth and with this increase in revenue for the top table it can only lead to one thing and that is a restructuring of the lower leagues. Whether Premiership 2 will happen remains to be seen but there are some very big clubs (historically and then the likes of us) which will be effectively driven out of business as we cannot compete.

The only way any club can get up is to flout the FFP Rules and gamble. Yes you may get a freak club like Brentford getting promoted however I'm not sure in the scheme of things seeing a "small time club" get the big time riches in the extreme is really a good thing.

The game especially the Premiership and probably more so the Championship is becoming a falsehood. The Premiership because of the ridiculous wages etc and effective money given for failure (bottom club still receives £100 million) and the Championship driving itself into financial meltdown attempting to get to the promised land added to which the failed clubs relegated have a stupid advantage.

Madness pure madness

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

£25 quid a month - gives me probably MINIMUM two football matches a week that keeps me entertained for 2 hours each. 4 months of the year I get 6 hrs entertainment watching the NFL a week. I also dip into the rugby and various other sports - gaelic football in the summer etc. If you do the maths, each time I sit down to watch a sporting event it probably costs me 1-2 quid.

Half hour in the pub (ie a pint) costs about £4. A cinema ticket, which lasts the same length as a footy match, costs £10. Getting the bus into town costs £2.40.

It's a luxury that I don't need but I don't feel like a mug.

I agree, we have everything through Sky - Internet/phone line etc so it works out better value.

Quite happy I get my monies worth, few games a week and super sunday makes it worth while most weeks.

 

[Mowgli37]

you weren't aware because its speculation, they haven't made any announcement on next season.

I was unaware that what I was unaware of was speculation. Hooray!

 

[Arthur]

I was unaware that what I was unaware of was speculation. Hooray!

It's not though, well for CL games anyway. From http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24879138

BT is already in almost every UK home with a telephone line and is also the largest broadband provider in the market. It isn't charging anything to show live Premier League football for existing broadband customers but will be charging for some Champion League games from 2015, although no pricing structure has been published.

I can't believe it'll stay free to air (assuming you are a BT subscriber) for prem games for long.

 

[Arthur]

I agree, we have everything through Sky - Internet/phone line etc so it works out better value.

Quite happy I get my monies worth, few games a week and super sunday makes it worth while most weeks.

I dunno about it being a better deal to be honest but it fills a requirement from me and it does it well.

I need a dedicated IP for work which Sky offer. Last time I checked BT didn't, does mean I have to be on Sky's top internet package but I've no issue paying for a service that works and works well.

Their television offering isn't cheap but I personally think it's brilliant especially the sport. Every night of the week you can watch some live sport even if it's just dog racing or speedway. To put that sort of commitment in to live sport must cost them a fortune so I'm not surprised it's dear.

Premier League Darts tonight....Lewis V Taylor!!

 

[Pavilionaire]

Another point about this deal is that it makes no reference to the extra strain it will make on officials.

Higher player wages, higher rewards for staying in the Prem, higher global TV income, higher global betting on Prem football, higher merchandise sales. And yet the fate of a number of managers, players and, arguably, clubs will rest on the decisions made by one man on the final weekend of the season. I can't begin to imagine the pressure Prem officials must feel. Inevitably, there will be more diving, cheating and gamesmanship as the rewards for winning rise expotentially.

It is now high time that the officiating infrastructure be improved. Whilst the rules have been periodically adapted to encourage more attacking play very little has happened since the introduction of linesmen in 1891 to progress the officiating of top-flight football.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I dunno about it being a better deal to be honest but it fills a requirement from me and it does it well.

I need a dedicated IP for work which Sky offer. Last time I checked BT didn't, does mean I have to be on Sky's top internet package but I've no issue paying for a service that works and works well.

Their television offering isn't cheap but I personally think it's brilliant especially the sport. Every night of the week you can watch some live sport even if it's just dog racing or speedway. To put that sort of commitment in to live sport must cost them a fortune so I'm not surprised it's dear.

Premier League Darts tonight....Lewis V Taylor!!

With the deals it works out Ok, we get free Broadband for 2 years as we got Sky Sports and stuff like that.

If your team is on twice a month, or they have couple of big games and you have to go to the pub to watch it it will cost you about the same.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Another point about this deal is that it makes no reference to the extra strain it will make on officials.

Higher player wages, higher rewards for staying in the Prem, higher global TV income, higher global betting on Prem football, higher merchandise sales. And yet the fate of a number of managers, players and, arguably, clubs will rest on the decisions made by one man on the final weekend of the season. I can't begin to imagine the pressure Prem officials must feel. Inevitably, there will be more diving, cheating and gamesmanship as the rewards for winning rise expotentially.

It is now high time that the officiating infrastructure be improved. Whilst the rules have been periodically adapted to encourage more attacking play very little has happened since the introduction of linesmen in 1891 to progress the officiating of top-flight football.

For me the one thing they can do that would improve the standard up and down the country is support them.

The FA need to stamp out the rubbish we see every game where the ref is surrounded by and sworn at by the players, and when the ref is abused beyond the line of acceptability ban the player.

The reason that the standard has dropped is because there are less and less refs to choose from, that 16 year old that walks away from it after being abused by idiots in Div 11 of the mid sussex league could have been a top ref in 10 years.

 

[Steve in Japan]

I watch BT Sport occasionally on my mac, free as like many I have BT infinity broadband. I find the BT site is not the slickest to navigate - 4 or 5 clicks to get the game up on screen - and more importantly the image quality on full screen has been patchy. Not much incentive to use it to be honest, not sure I would pay anything for it.

 

[Pavilionaire]

For me the one thing they can do that would improve the standard up and down the country is support them.

The FA need to stamp out the rubbish we see every game where the ref is surrounded by and sworn at by the players, and when the ref is abused beyond the line of acceptability ban the player.

The reason that the standard has dropped is because there are less and less refs to choose from, that 16 year old that walks away from it after being abused by idiots in Div 11 of the mid sussex league could have been a top ref in 10 years.

Yes, I buy that. And yet you'd probably never see as bad a refereeing decision in Div 11 of the mid sussex league as the one the ref and his assistant got wrong for Vertonghen's "goal" against Sunderland. I'm waiting for Poyet's team to stay up on goal difference by 1 goal.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

70% increase on previous deal. Jeeeeez!
Just goes to show what a brilliant job Peter Scudamore is doing selling the TV rights of the Premier League. Is the Premier League still the best league in the world? I personally don't think so.

Bournemouth will be quids in they go up this season. Surely Bloom has got to gamble in the summer with some 'big' signings?!

Its not Peter Scudamore its more the system,Bidders have to ensure they dont miss out so they go high,in turn they sell on around the world plus
increase their charges to viewers,which could well be on the high side this time.

 

[Bozza]

Its not Peter Scudamore its more the system,Bidders have to ensure they dont miss out so they go high,in turn they sell on around the world plus
increase their charges to viewers,which could well be on the high side this time.

The winners (Sky and BT) don't sell on rights around the world - the Premier League sell those rights separately (ie in addition to the c£5bn UK rights). I think the last overseas rights sale raised £2bn - the next one is undoubtedly going to be much higher again.