Bt Secures First Rugby Picks, As Watson Leaves
A compromise deal between BT Sport and Sky Sports for the coverage of the new European club rugby competitions has been reached, with BT Sport securing first choice on matches – according to the Daily Telegraph – on the same day that it was also revealed Marc Watson, a key figure behind BT’s launch into the pay-TV market, will leave the company.
As expected, BT Sport will have first choice on three matches involving clubs in the Aviva Premiership for each of the six rounds of pool matches in the new elite tournament.
Sky Sports, meanwhile, will then have first pick for three matches of games not involving English sides, most likely the games involving high-profile teams from the French Top 14 and Irish provinces or Welsh regions.
The two broadcasters will then divide the remaining games using a formula based around how many games each weekend involve English sides.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the knockout stage is likely to be shared with each broadcaster showing two quarter-finals each and one of the semi-finals. The final – which the newspaper said will be brought forward from the end of May to the beginning of the month – will be broadcast by both.
In addition, Sky Sports will have the first pick on three matches involving English clubs in the second-tier competition, which will replace the Amlin Challenge Cup, with BT Sport then able to select three games that do not involve English sides.
The agreement resolves the rights issue that had previously arisen, after Sky Sports signed a contract to cover the existing Heineken Cup while BT Sport had a deal to broadcast the new tournament.
The new European Cup will be run by a company based in Switzerland, as opposed to current organisers European Rugby Cup.
English Premiership clubs withdrew from ERC in June 2012, and have long advocated changes to the present tournament, the Heineken Cup.
As part of the new structure, unions from England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy will be represented on a board, while a separate executive – run by the three leagues along with an independent chairman – will be in charge of commercial affairs.
The main cup competition will involve 20 teams rather than 24, with six qualifying from the Aviva Premiership, six from the French Top 14 and seven from the Pro12.
At least one team from each of the Pro12 countries – Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy – will be guaranteed a place in the tournament, while the remaining spot will go to the winner of a play-off between the seventh-placed teams in England and France.
The news comes on the day Marc Watson, the man who was the driving force behind BT Sport’s acquisition of rights, was leaving the company as part of a plan to reorganise for the next phase of the battle with BSkyB.
The chief executive of BT TV joined in 2007 when its television efforts were focused on its Vision set-top box and was also key member of the executive team that worked on BT’s £738 million charge into top flight football in 2012.
