Bt Sport Wins Champions League Rights
BT Sport’s new £897 million Champions League deal could see as much as £300 million make its way back to English clubs participating in the competition, according to media reports.
The deal, which sees UEFA’s income jump by £497 million, ends more than two decades of the competition being covered by Sky Sports and ITV. It also means the tournament will not be covered on terrestrial television for the first time, but BT Sport has guaranteed that every British team will be shown free-to-air at least once a season – even to non-subscribers.
‘I am thrilled that BT Sport will be the only place where fans can enjoy all the live action from the Champions League and Europa League,’ said BT chief executive Gavin Patterson.
He told BBC News: ‘The key for us is growing our broadband business. We are available on all platforms. If customers do not want to be BT broadband customers, they can pay for the service as well.’
‘We bid with a clear view of what the rights are worth to us. It seems BT chose to pay far in excess of our valuation,’ said a statement from Sky Sports.
