The 2016-17 Premier League Rights Auction

[Chazza]

Will have a new bidder......

Discovery set to join fight for Premier League rights

Discovery Communications has emerged as a potential challenger to BT and Sky in the upcoming battle for England’s Premier League football broadcasting rights.

David Zaslav, chief executive of the US television group, travelled to London on Wednesday to meet the Premier League,

Discovery and the Premier League declined to comment. The meeting was first reported by Bloomberg.

This year’s Premier League auction is one of the most eagerly anticipated in the competition’s history, with analysts expecting the value of the rights to increase by about 30 per cent to £4bn for the three-year period beginning with the 2016-17 season.

First-round bids for the UK broadcast rights are due on February 6. Seven packages of matches are at stake; Sky currently holds five packages and BT two.

Both companies have said they will bid in the auction, with Sky seeking to protect its pay-TV business and BT hoping to add more broadband customers.

Discovery Communications, whose largest shareholder is US billionaire John Malone, did not bid in the last auction in 2012. However, it has signalled that Europe is increasingly important to its growth.

The company paid about $370m to increase its stake in Eurosport to 51 per cent last year and tried to acquire motor racing’s Formula 1. In the UK it unsuccessfully bid for free-to-air broadcaster Channel 5 and then paid £275m for half of production group All3Media.

Last week, Discovery appointed sports rights specialist Peter Hutton as Eurosport’s chief executive. “[Our] focus is now on unlocking the full value of our must-have sports content,” said JB Perette, president of Discovery’s international division.

Discovery generated free cash flow of $1.2bn in the 2013 financial year, less than Sky and BT.

Virgin Media, which is owned by Mr Malone’s Liberty Global, has called on communications regulator Ofcom to intervene in the Premier League auction process, arguing that current arrangements lead to British consumers paying more to watch fewer games. Ofcom is due to rule on the complaint in March.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2e012f24-a1a0-11e4-bd03-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PUZ5Lf6z

[Gray]

I heard Google are in the mix

[ChesterDave]

If Google do get the rights I reckon sites offering streaming services will stop appearing in results pretty sharpish!

[BigChief]

If Google do get the rights I reckon sites offering streaming services will stop appearing in results pretty sharpish!

And owners of their sites will be hacked into and e-****ed up.

[-V-]

They want more competition to stop monopolization which in effect should help consumers. Instead it drives prices up, products get split amongst different companies and consumers get shafted with higher prices

[dom9]

Oh dear. It looks like I won't be paying to watch football in my house any time soon. Or ever.

It's high time this bubble was pricked.

Join me on the sidelines. It's the only way we can win.

[BobTheCharmer]

Join me on the sidelines. It's the only way we can win.

That's a good point. But alas enough people will pay whatever it takes to watch as much football as they can.

[dom9]

Then they should stump up and quit complaining.

[BobTheCharmer]

Then then should stump up and quit complaining.

I haven't had sky since I lived at home. I have BT now through Virgin, its nice having some live sport in the home, but hardly a necessity.

[Tee]

It is my drug, I need it. So whoever the dealer is, I am still hooked and will be buying...

[dom9]

Have you considered rehab? Or cold turkey?

I must admit, a life not dominated by football schedules is a life which is happier and more productive for me. I have surprised myself. I played footy on Tuesday instead of watching the Chelsea game, and I didn't think about it once. It's like the ball and chain have finally been lifted.

[Tee]

Have you considered rehab? Or cold turkey?

I must admit, a life not dominated by football schedules is a life which is happier and more productive for me. I have surprised myself. I played footy on Tuesday instead of watching the Chelsea game, and I didn't think about it once. It's like the ball and chain have finally been lifted.

Tried it (cancelling Sky) but only lasted about 3 weeks haha. I love this sport, playing more than watching unless it is a really important match. And I just love LFC, which in itself opens up a world of drama and addiction to these type of sites.

I play every Friday and will start on Weds also, like I said...basically I am hooked.

[Venton]

Oh dear. It looks like I won't be paying to watch football in my house any time soon. Or ever.

It's high time this bubble was pricked.

Join me on the sidelines. It's the only way we can win.

I binned it off a couple of years ago. For the big games if I want to see it there is always the boozer. Otherwise I'm happy with the radio or a stream. It will never end, the more money they pay for the rights the more 0s they put on the end of the wages etc. And I find the majority of games in the premiership a bit dull now that 4th place is the aim and defences are better than they used to be (most of the time...).

[Chazza]

Sky Sports' Super Sunday at risk in Premier League bidding war

Fifth of BSkyB's profits and a third of its sports subscribers could be lost if flagship programme is casualty of multi-billion-pound television rights auction

Sky Sports’ flagship Super Sunday programme could come under threat when the multi-billion-pound Premier League television rights auction resumes on Tuesday.
A second round of bidding is expected to commence for all seven packages of matches on offer after no winners emerged from Friday’s opening submissions.

The biggest battle may centre on the coveted 4pm Sunday slot, which BSkyB has held since the Premier League began and the loss of which analysts estimate could cost it a fifth of its profits and a third of its sports subscribers.

It was forced to pay big to prevent BT Sport snatching the package during the last auction two-and-half years ago and it is likely to have to spend even more to keep it out of the clutches of its bitter rival this time.

Friday’s stalemate, which was in stark contrast to the last auction when two packages were sold in round one, would indicate that not only was every package subject to more than one bid but that Sky Sports and BT Sport were probably not the only broadcasters involved.

Reports in the build-up suggested the Discovery Network, which owns British Eurosport, would make an offer after its chief executive met with the Premier League last month.

Mega-rich Qatar-based beIN Sports were also linked with a bid, while there is no telling whether another broadcaster attempted to gate-crash proceedings as BT did so dramatically two-and-a-half years ago.

A combination of multiple bids and all seven packages still being available would represent the dream scenario for Premier League clubs, who were already expecting a healthy increase on the £3.018bn windfall from the last auction.

A three- or four-way bidding war could result in another surge in the value of the most lucrative television rights in football.

Sky Sports will be desperate to retain the maximum number of matches a single broadcaster is allowed to hold by the Premier League, 126 from 168 on this occasion.

BT Sport, meanwhile, is unlikely to be satisfied unless it secures at least another 18 games on top of the 38 currently in its possession.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/news/11401680/Sky-Sports-Super-Sunday-at-risk-in-Premier-League-bidding-war.html

[BobTheCharmer]

What a farce its become. Bidding absolute crazy money to broadcast games which more often than not are complete ****. Yet people lap it up. The prices of the packages will go up no end. Yet people lap it up. Its madness.