BskyB and BT have won the battle for the rights to broadcast English Premier League football – and will pay £3bn for the privilege. BT has moved into the market in a big way, and will show 38 games in 2013-14, with the remaining games being shown by BskyB.
BUT – the price of the new UK agreement is increasing by a massive 70% since the last rights were sold for 2010-11. Inevitably, there are already serious concerns about how this investment will be recovered.
After the last auction process saw substantial increased cost, prices to customers duly went up, and expenditure across the pub sector declined as a direct result, reducing the availability of the most important games.
The pub trade will be waiting anxiously to see how in practical terms BT and BskyB plan to work together, as well as the cost implications. For many pubs, struggling to generate revenue from both food and drink, major price increases will present them with a very difficult business dilemma.