Sky Sports & BT Sports extend deal to air more Premiere League football
Sky Sports and BT Sports have paid a combined £4.464 billion to retain rights to air Premier League football in a new deal starting 2019.
The new deal consists of Sky broadcasting 128 matches from 2019 until 2022, while BT Sports has acquired just one package so far with 32 matches. The deal will offer Sky Sports viewers every first-pick weekend match, plus Saturday evening fixtures for the first time, all screened on Sky’s dedicated Premier League channel.
Sky has chosen to pay £1,193 million per annum under the terms of the new deal, down £199 million per annum, a 16% cost reduction per game versus the current agreement.
Sky has acquired the following rights between 2019/20 and 2021/22:
• The biggest head to heads with every weekend ‘first pick’ and 14 ‘second picks’
• The best slots including Saturday tea time matches, Super Sunday, Monday Night Football and Friday Night Football
• For the first time, Saturday evening matches
The agreement strengthens Sky’s position as the best provider of the broadest range of content, which includes ten channels of sport covering live Premier League, English Football League, Scottish Football, exclusive coverage of Formula 1 from 2019 to 2024, plus England cricket through to 2024. This great sport sits alongside the best drama, comedy and entertainment, which will include over 50 Sky Original productions over the course of 2018. These content investments across the whole portfolio reflect Sky’s continuing journey towards a more broadly-based business which seeks to provide something for every household and everyone in the household.
Stephen van Rooyen, Sky’s UK Chief Executive, said, “We continue to invest in content that our customers value and which complements our strategy to broaden our offer. Not only do we remain the home of Premier League football but also the home of top quality drama, entertainment, comedy and other sports. Our disciplined approach means we continue to have the flexibility to invest in each of these areas as we choose, underlining our position as Europe’s largest investor in content.”
Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports added, “Sky Sports customers will continue to enjoy unrivalled Premier League coverage through to 2022 with 128 live matches a season from next year – more than ever before – including the key head to heads in the best slots and, of course, analysis from the biggest names in football. This comes on the back of recent renewals for EFL, ECB and exclusivity for F1™, all of which will be available to our customers until 2024.”
Two more packages are still yet to be sold with interest from a number of bidders including online giant, Amazon.
