Quote:
Originally Posted by Raider999
Competition does not work in the subscribers interest - it merely drives up the price.
|
Competition does work for the consumer if it's genuine competition.
E.g. if I want a mobile phone service, I have the choice of multiple operators all of whom provide a mobile phone service of voice, text and data. Yes, they differ in quality, price, extras, etc, but that is a genuine choice dependant upon what overall package you require from your mobile phone service.
The Premier League rights are sold in exclusive packs so there is no competition. If you want 100+ games your only choice is currently Sky Sports, if you want just 20+ different games your only choice is currently BT Sport and if you want them all you have to have both.
Now if all broadcasters could buy the same packs of Premier League matches, e.g.Sky, BT, Netflix, Amazon, etc, all had the same 120+ matches, that would be true competition as the consumer would be able to watch all the matches on the broadcaster that offered them the best all round package for their needs.
It's unlikely that this true competition will happen in the short-term as losing broadcaster exclusivity would also reduce the price they were willing to pay to line the pockets of the Premier League.