Scottish Mag 3 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 US sports cable network ESPN is "absolutely interested" in buying the UK rights to broadcast Premier League football, its president has said. The comments by George Bodenheimer to the Financial Times signal efforts by the network to boost its European audience, analysts say. BSkyB and Setanta hold the UK rights to show live Premier League games until the end of the 2009/10 season. The duo paid a record £1.7bn for the three-season contract. BSkyB is paying about £4.8m per game and Setanta £2.8m under the deal. The league also agreed a new £625m deal for overseas television rights, swelling the coffers of Premier League clubs. Mr Bodenheimer described the league as "fabulous property" for a broadcaster to have. "We're going to work on getting as local as we can. We want to deliver product that is relevant in each country," he told the FT. "It's a country-by-country approach. We want to be investors wherever the top sports product is." ESPN currently reaches about 10 million homes in Europe, but winning rights to the Premier League would encourage a much bigger take up, observers say. It would be likely to face tough competition - with both BSkyB and Setanta seeing football as a key asset in winning and retaining subscribers. Disney-owned ESPN has been on a spending spree, recently boosting its online sports presence by buying cricket website Cricinfo and rugby site Scrum.com. In the US it has long-term deals to broadcast the country's three key sports - American football, baseball and basketball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6151 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 £4.8mil per game!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsy 0 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 God no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBass 2353 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 How have Setanta managed to get it for £2m cheaper than Sky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khay 8 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 How have Setanta managed to get it for £2m cheaper than Sky? Think sky get to show more highlights of other games. Do they not show extended highlights for selected games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Wasn't the point of splitting it into 3 packages to end Sky's monopoly? I can't see ESPN being able to buy all the rights up. The problem I have is that if you get 3 pay channels showing games, that's 3 separate subscriptions, which rather than protecting the consumer is pissing us about. If they MUST split it out, then each package should consists of specific clubs away games, so you can buy up the games you want to see safe in the knowledge which channel has them all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 How have Setanta managed to get it for £2m cheaper than Sky? Think sky get to show more highlights of other games. Do they not show extended highlights for selected games? Isn't it just because they've paid for the Saturday/Sunday afternoon packages which were more desireable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4ever 0 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Wasn't the point of splitting it into 3 packages to end Sky's monopoly? I can't see ESPN being able to buy all the rights up. The problem I have is that if you get 3 pay channels showing games, that's 3 separate subscriptions, which rather than protecting the consumer is pissing us about. If they MUST split it out, then each package should consists of specific clubs away games, so you can buy up the games you want to see safe in the knowledge which channel has them all season. Never mind pissing us about, what about the fucking cost? Just the same as the directory enquiries 'monopoly', now it costs a shitload more to the end user. Nice one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Wasn't the point of splitting it into 3 packages to end Sky's monopoly? I can't see ESPN being able to buy all the rights up. The problem I have is that if you get 3 pay channels showing games, that's 3 separate subscriptions, which rather than protecting the consumer is pissing us about. If they MUST split it out, then each package should consists of specific clubs away games, so you can buy up the games you want to see safe in the knowledge which channel has them all season. Never mind pissing us about, what about the fucking cost? Just the same as the directory enquiries 'monopoly', now it costs a shitload more to the end user. Nice one. This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. Sky and Setanta paid a total of £1.7 billion, a two-thirds increase which took many commentators by surprise as it had been widely assumed that the value of the rights had levelled off following many years of rapid growth. Back off Brussels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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