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Sky grabs Premier League mobile rights
England - 13 July, 2006
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Sky Media is on the verge of securing more Premier League rights, acquiring the final rights package to show highlights of matches on mobile phones.
Sky Media, which secured most of the TV rights earlier this year, beat five mobile firms – 3, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone – that had been bidding with TWI, the sports production group, on a deal that would have seen each operator take equal rights to league matches starting with the 2007-2008 season, in exchange for helping TWI with the cost of broadcasting the matches.
The current deal for highlights of Premier League matches is held by 3 and Vodafone as part of an exclusive three-year deal, which also allows Sky to broadcast highlights online. The award of the mobile package concludes a round of deals that includes television, online and mobile broadcast rights.
BT subscribers will also be able to access delayed coverage of the Premier League without the need for a Sky subscription through its BT Vision service.
The mobile deal with BSkyB will span three years and includes 242 matches a season from league matches that are not shown live. It will also allow customers of BT Vision to watch the games from 10 p.m. on the day of the match.
Sky's current GBP 1.02 billion four-year TV rights deal with the Premier League expires at the end of the 2006-2007 season. But, in June, the Football Association awarded BSkyB four packages out of the six live television packages available, allowing it to show 92 matches from seasons 2007-2010. Sky paid GBP 1.3 billion for the rights.
Due to new European Commission restrictions, Sky had been limited to a maximum of five television packages.
Irish sports broadcaster Setanta was awarded the remaining two packages in a GBP 392 million deal. The 46 matches Setanta won will mostly be Saturday evening and Monday night games.
Also in June, the BBC retained the rights to broadcast Premier League highlights, ensuring a future for its 'Match of the Day' football show as part of a three-year GBP 171.6 million deal. The package allows the BBC to hold on to the free-to-air highlights rights in the UK from 2007 to 2010.
Sky Media, which secured most of the TV rights earlier this year, beat five mobile firms – 3, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone – that had been bidding with TWI, the sports production group, on a deal that would have seen each operator take equal rights to league matches starting with the 2007-2008 season, in exchange for helping TWI with the cost of broadcasting the matches.
The current deal for highlights of Premier League matches is held by 3 and Vodafone as part of an exclusive three-year deal, which also allows Sky to broadcast highlights online. The award of the mobile package concludes a round of deals that includes television, online and mobile broadcast rights.
BT subscribers will also be able to access delayed coverage of the Premier League without the need for a Sky subscription through its BT Vision service.
The mobile deal with BSkyB will span three years and includes 242 matches a season from league matches that are not shown live. It will also allow customers of BT Vision to watch the games from 10 p.m. on the day of the match.
Sky's current GBP 1.02 billion four-year TV rights deal with the Premier League expires at the end of the 2006-2007 season. But, in June, the Football Association awarded BSkyB four packages out of the six live television packages available, allowing it to show 92 matches from seasons 2007-2010. Sky paid GBP 1.3 billion for the rights.
Due to new European Commission restrictions, Sky had been limited to a maximum of five television packages.
Irish sports broadcaster Setanta was awarded the remaining two packages in a GBP 392 million deal. The 46 matches Setanta won will mostly be Saturday evening and Monday night games.
Also in June, the BBC retained the rights to broadcast Premier League highlights, ensuring a future for its 'Match of the Day' football show as part of a three-year GBP 171.6 million deal. The package allows the BBC to hold on to the free-to-air highlights rights in the UK from 2007 to 2010.
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