General : ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news

[colin25]

Originally Posted by andy_m

Isn't it the Saturday lunch time kick offs they've got?

yes, that is my understanding

[paultrademark]

The packages BT won are mainly for Saturday lunchtime matches, including the first match of each season and midweek offerings.

The Saturday early kick-off format is an area where Sky had monopolised since 1997, even during the days where they offered pay-per-view games through the Premiership Plus service.

BT will be paying £246 million for its share in the new broadcast deal and have said that it will launch a football channel to cover the games.

Included in the deal are 18 first pick games, which means that Sky have also lost the exclusive deal they have had of all the big head-to-head encounters such as Manchester United’s showdowns with Arsenal and Liverpool’s meetings against Chelsea.

Full details and pricing figures will be announced by the company in due course.

http://www.totalfootballmag.com/feat...ootball-arena/

[andy_m]

In my opinion the Saturday lunch time kick off is the best way to ruin a potential classic.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by andy_m

In my opinion the Saturday lunch time kick off is the best way to ruin a potential classic.

Seconded.

Extra long lie-in then Soccer Saturday, no time for Manure vs. ???.

[colin25]

Originally Posted by denphone

Seconded.

Third, and another reason why i am not bothered if I don't get BT games

[cityfan247]

whether i subscribe to the new BT sports pack (assuming it comes to VM) is going to come down to cost and whether i think it represents value to me.

Premier League footy? it wont have as many games as Sky so if its a choice of one or the other for people Sky (whilst more expensive) may be better value to some.

Bundesliga/serie A/Ligue 1- i like my footy but i have asked myself how many of these games do i actually watch ? to be honest i dont watch that many- i probably watch more La Liga games (on Sky Sports of course)

US Sports- assuming there is some type of ESPN America equivalent. I have subscribed since NASN first started up. But ESPN Americas rights have been diluted since they lost the NHL and and NFL programming. NFL is on Sky and i am not that overly bothered about NBA.

I like College sports and baseball but i have subscribed to MLB.TV for a few years so that sorts my baseball fix and last year i could watch all Notre Dame football games(my favs) perfectly legally on the NBC website.

i ask myself could i live without ESPN America right now - yeh i can and in fact if it wasnt part of the ESPN pack in XL i probably would pay for it these days tbh.

i question how many punters will be a) able and b) willing to fork out the potential £40+ pm for both Sky Sports and BT Sports. Whilst they have tried to increase their portfolio BT Sports is pretty much the same as Setanta & ESPN before it - and look at whats happened to them. BT may be a bigger beast but if they think some premier league games and other stuff is going to make jump from Sky or VM to their platform or choose BT sports over Sky Sports or in addition to it i wonder if they have over estimated their likely revenue from the UK market just as it seems Setanta and ESPN did (you could even include the ill fated ITV Sport deal in English Football a decade or so ago). If BT Sports doesnt make money (or enough of it) how long before they also pull the plug?

[andy_m]

They didn't overestimate the revenue they bid high because they wanted the bulk of the rights, but ended up outbid by Sky. The result, as you say, is that they end up with a package broadly similar to ESPN, but with a much larger outlay.

[coulsontom]

Originally Posted by colin25

Third, and another reason why i am not bothered if I don't get BT games

I understand they have 19 first picks. (City v Utd, Utd v City, Che v Ars, Liv v Utd etc...)

And then 19 last picks.

I just assumed that the first picks meant in the 4pm sunday slots.

Even if sat lunch, they still have first picks for half the season.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by cityfan247

whether i subscribe to the new BT sports pack (assuming it comes to VM) is going to come down to cost and whether i think it represents value to me

I think everyone, regardless of provider, is in the same boat.

I left Virgin about 5 months ago after 3 price increases. One was forced due to SKY Sports increasing in price. Over a 10 month period my package had jumped up by almost £10.00 per month. I know some on here had seen their package go up by almost £13.00 in less than a year. The next few months don't look too good either.

The VIP package is currently £113.99 per month including ESPN. It looks 90% certain that BT Sports will not replace ESPN in the XL package. It also looks certain that the XL and VIP package will not be reduced in price when ESPN is removed.

Other posts in this forum suggest BT Sports may cost around £12.50 per month. If and when a new carriage deal is agreed with SKY for SKY Sports it's a cert that Virgin will have to pass and increased costs onto their SKY Sports customers. This means sports fans currently paying £113.99 per month for VIP, who want to continue enjoying the same level of sports broadcasting as they do know, face having to pay anywhere up to £130.00 per month.

Terrible state of affairs.

[denphone]

Chad you do seem to have this doomsday scenario obsession lately.

[colin25]

Originally Posted by denphone

Chad you do seem to have this doomsday scenario obsession lately.

Following your lead Den

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RIgs3eygo

Originally Posted by denphone

Well if it goes down this road then then Sky can go and jump off a cliff as they will really commit the biggest own goal that has ever been seen.

Well, Sky would still keep their current customers on their own platform and a large percentage of customers from other platforms would probably swap over. I doubt Sky would lose much pulling their channels from others.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Chad

Terrible state of affairs.

The people who own the football rights would probably disagree with you

[Chad]

Originally Posted by denphone

Chad you do seem to have this doomsday scenario obsession lately.

I'm just saying it as I see it.