BSkyB and BT win Premier League rights for £3 bn
15 Jun 2012
British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSkyB) and BT Group Plc have secured the TV rights for the English Premier League football matches for a combined consideration of £3 billion over a three-year period.
The new deal represents about 70 per cent increase or £1.24 billion compared with the current broadcast settlement of £1.78 billion shared between BSkyB and ESPN, way above market expectations.
Further to the news, shares in both the companies slumped on concerns over the too-high a price tag agreed for the rights.
BSkyB's shares dived 8.2 per cent at one point but later recovered and ended 3.5 per cent down at 671 pence. BT shares also dropped 5.1 per cent before closing 3.5 per cent lower at 201.70.
BSkyB will pay £2.28 billion for the live telecast rights of 116 English Premier League matches per season for the three-year period from 2013-14 to 1015-2016. BT will pay £736 million for the rights to 38 games per season.
London-based BSkyB is a British satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company with operations in the UK and Ireland.
