Football Broadcasters Show Hands For New Season

BT Sport’s first ever Barclays Premier League game will see Stoke travel to Liverpool on the opening day of the season, after the new sports broadcaster showed its hand in the battle for TV audiences against Sky Sports. The latter, meanwhile, revealed its own lineup of matches, with live football coming to Sky 2 for the first time, with Swansea v Manchester United available to non-Sky Sports subscribers.

Former Stoke and Liverpool player Michael Owen will be on hand for BT Sport’s opening game at the Britannia Stadium on 17th August, while the newcomers will also broadcast Spurs v Chelsea, Everton v Liverpool, Man City v Everton, Newcastle v Liverpool and Spurs v Man Utd, amongst others, in the first part of the season running until the end of November.

BT Sport committed more than £730m for its share of the rights, which will see 38 games per season broadcast on the channels for the next three years.

Simon Green, director of BT Sport, said: ‘We are thrilled that BT Sport viewers will be able to enjoy these top-of-the-table matches free with BT broadband. This is the first time in Premier League history that top pick matches have been shown anywhere other than on Sky, but Sky TV customers can easily add BT Sport by calling us and if they have BT broadband they can get it for free.

‘We have only used five of our top picks, which means that BT Sport will have another 13 throughout the remainder of the season, so our viewers have many more excellent Premier League games to come.’ 

In response, Sky Sports has launched its biggest ever campaign – with 116 live fixtures on the channels, more than any other season – with 43 Premier League matches by 1st December, a minimum of three matches per week.

Every home in Britain will have free access to David Moyes’ first match as Manchester United manager as Sky Sports offers exclusively live coverage of the champions against Swansea City, while Jose Mourinho’s return as Chelsea manager and Manuel Pellegrini’s debut as Manchester City boss will also be shown live.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: ‘This is our biggest ever season of Premier League football. When you look at the opening fixtures in black and white, you can see that no other broadcaster comes close to the quality that we offer. Sky Sports will show every match between last season’s top four as well as every club at least twice by December.’ 

‘We’ll have more than three times as many matches as BT, and our schedule is even stronger than it was last season. With the best team of analysts, a fantastic new weekend schedule and coverage from the Football League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga and the SPL, this is the best ever football season for Sky Sports viewers.’

On radio, talkSPORT has also revealed its lineup, covering United’s trip to Swansea on the opening day. The radio station, which also broadcasts the league globally, will broadcast live from at least one game a week, including Liverpool v Man Utd, Everton v Chelsea, Chelsea v Man City, Arsenal v Liverpool and Spurs v Newcastle in the first part of the season.