BT executive says Premier League deal vindicates entry into market
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Version 0 of 1. The BT executive who oversaw the company’s successful bid for a slice of the record-breaking £5.1bn auction for Premier League TV rights has claimed the deal vindicated its bidding strategy and its original decision to enter the sports broadcasting market. BT agreed to pay £960m over three years for 42 live matches per season from 2016/17, up from the £738m it pays for 38 games at present. Under the deal its games, most of which kick off at Saturday teatime rather than their current Saturday lunchtime slot, work out at 17% more expensive. But rival Sky saw the amount it will pay per game soar from £6.6m to £11m as the Osterley-based broadcaster bid high in order to see off the competition. Having lost live Champions League rights to BT in a £897m deal, Sky executives were determined to retain 126 live games per season (the maximum allowed) and the lion’s share of the best matches at the most attractive kick off times. Retaining its dominance came at a high price – £4.18bn – which was reflected in a decline in its share price early on Wednesday morning. BT’s, in contrast, rose. “You can spend so much time thinking about the tactics that you can lose sight of the fundamentals and what matters,” said BT Consumer chief executive John Petter. “What matters is what my customers want and what they’re prepared to pay. That’s why we’re so happy and this is a good result for us.” Petter, who oversaw BT’s bidding strategy, said the deal ensured it retained enough matches to complement its existing rights and pursue its strategy of using BT Sport to attract and retain broadband customers. “Although the sum of money for us is not a small one, it’s very much a manageable increase on what we’ve paid previously,” he said. “It’s very much within the scope of our business case and we’re very comfortable with it indeed.” BT insiders claimed they not only retained a significant presence but forced Sky to pay over the odds. Sky, meanwhile, said it had prioritised the Premier League and could absorb the increased costs. Sky, which insists that the money saved on Champions League football and other efficiencies will negate the need for big price rises for the consumer, argues that BT have ended up with fewer first-pick matches. But Petter said the teatime slot gave them more options. “This is going to give us more freedom to pick better games. If you look at first and second picks together, we’ve got 23 now and it will go to 19,” he said. “But looked at in the round we’ve got a much bigger timeslot, the maximum number of times we can show each club goes up and we’ve got a game every week. This gives me more, so I can give my customers more.” BT still has a strategic decision to make over its pricing once it starts showing Champions League football from next season. BT Sport currently reaches around 5m households, many of which receive it free either as a result of taking BT Broadband or as part of a Virgin Media bundle. “The thing we’ve brought to this marketplace is to make more accessible and more affordable for more people. That strategy has worked for us,” said Petter. “There were a lot of sceptics and there were a lot of people who thought we’d somewhat lost the plot in 2012. But the numbers speak for themselves. The consumer business is doing better now than it has ever done. Not only are the profits growing consistently, but even before the investment in sport the profits are up.” Petter confirmed there would be an additional charge for Champions League football but hinted that other channels would remain free. In addition to the Premier League and Champions League rights, BT also shares FA Cup coverage with the BBC. BT Sport is believed to be trying to lure Gary Lineker to front its Champions League coverage in addition to his BBC responsibilites. “This approach of making sport more accessible to more people is working for us. That’s what we’ll keep doing,” said Petter. “There will be a modest charge for the Champions League, we’ve been very consistent on that, but it will fit within the scope of the overall strategy of bringing sport back to the people.” He also promised that BT would deliver more innovative coverage now that its high-speed fibre product was available in more homes, blending TV content with on-demand and interactive services. “You will see more on that, there will be more innovation. The real opportunity is to bring together the power of the network, TV delivered through that network and the power of exciting content,” he said. “So the combination of those three things is going to be a fantastic customer offer.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian onTwitter and Facebook. |