Premier League ready to ditch Sky Sports and BT Sport in radical new broadcasting plans

[mawspurs]

Premier League bosses are discussing the notion of cutting out the middle man when it comes to showing live games with plans to broadcast matches via their own platform

It’s likely there will be just one more multi partner deal before the Premier League cut out the middle men and run the show themselves. It will be devastating for Sky who have helped build the Premier League to the financial colossus it is today after joining forces at its inception in 1992.

Source: Daily Mirror

 

[cider spurs]

Good. Feck Sky.

 

[Gassin's finest]

I'm surprised this hadn't happened years ago tbh.

 

[Tucker]

I’ll believe it when I see it. Right now the premier league get to pit two or three opposing bidders against each other, they get free advertising from Sky, BT and Amazon and they don’t have to take on any of the risks associated with the broadcast contract.

Will they be able to make more than they do now? Possibly, but there’s also a bit of a contraction happening in the streaming market right now. From Netflix to Disney companies are realising there’s only so much money they can squeeze out of an over burdened consumer.

 

[Johnny J]

I don't know the commercial ins and outs, but I find it absurd that in 2023 I can't buy a virtual season ticket for my team that allows me to stream all their games live for that season.

 

[ljinko888]

I doubt this will happen. Nobody hypes up the Premier League for entertainment and drama value better than Sky which is a key part it has become the biggest commercial sporting competition in the world. A Premier League ran internal operation would just be so bland.

 

[LSUY]

I’ll believe it when I see it. Right now the premier league get to pit two or three opposing bidders against each other, they get free advertising from Sky, BT and Amazon and they don’t have to take on any of the risks associated with the broadcast contract.

Will they be able to make more than they do now? Possibly, but there’s also a bit of a contraction happening in the streaming market right now. From Netflix to Disney companies are realising there’s only so much money they can squeeze out of an over burdened consumer.

They've already got Sky, BT (now with Warner Bros. Discovery's deep pockets) and Amazon bidding for their rights and there's talk of DAZN and Disney+ looking to get involved too. On top of that, you've got the highlights package with rumours that ITV is considering bidding against the BBC. Seven potential bidders and that's just in one country. Replicate that across every developed nation and broadcasting rights are still where the money is.

 

[JCRD]

I hate listening to Simon Jordan but he has always said there should be a netflix style approach - game pass for NFL type thing. There really is no need for Sky/BT etc

You own the product, why not make even more money by going down that route, and instead of everyone paying Sky, everyone pays the PL to watch all games. £20 a month - global audience - imagine the billions.

Yeah the production and marketing will need work - they will need to learn from America and NFL - but coupled with the 3pm blackouts removed - that will be the new way we all will consume football.

 

[Stamford]

Apple TV please. The coverage in the UK is so so poor compared to what they get in American sports

 

[chas vs dave]

Hopefully they can put Chris Sutton out of a job

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Yeah the production and marketing will need work - they will need to learn from America and NFL - but coupled with the 3pm blackouts removed - that will be the new way we all will consume football.

Not sure I follow here. The NFL sells the vast majority of it’s broadcast rights to 3rd parties, and then allow those parties to figure out how best to monetize the product with consumers.

As a league, you don’t want the risk of viewers- you want the money upfront and let someone else worry about getting viewers.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

All depends on pricing, during covid Premier League thought £15 per match was a fair price and that caused uproar.
Will it be much cheaper than having Sky/BT/Amazon , knowing the greed of PL and the clubs have my doubts, at the moment Sky Sport has a £34.99 monthly pass with NOW TV and BT Sport has a £29.99 monthly pass both of which I think are for non-subscribers , so where will PL pitch their price.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

What is the typical monthly price you have to pay in the UK to get: PL games, CL/EL/ECL, and domestic cups?

In the US, I pay:

PeacockTV - PL games and replays: $5
Paramount+ - all European comps: $6.35
ESPN+ - all domestic cups: Free with my mobile plan (Verizon)

Paramount and ESPN subscriptions also come with loads of other leagues.

Of course there is lower demand in the US, so lower fees paid to PL, and thus lower costs to consumer. But if PL wants to make this work in the UK they need to figure out how to get more money for themselves, while lowering the costs for UK viewers.

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

What is the typical monthly price you have to pay in the UK to get: PL games, CL/EL/ECL, and domestic cups?

In the US, I pay:

PeacockTV - PL games and replays: $5
Paramount+ - all European comps: $6.35
ESPN+ - all domestic cups: Free with my mobile plan (Verizon)

Paramount and ESPN subscriptions also come with loads of other leagues.

Of course there is lower demand in the US, so lower fees paid to PL, and thus lower costs to consumer. But if PL wants to make this work in the UK they need to figure out how to get more money for themselves, while lowering the costs for UK viewers.

Not sure you can make a direct comparison , subscribers to SKY and BT get something like a total of 15 sport channels showing different sports, as far as I know you can't just opt for football coverage only you get the whole package of different sports for you money.

 

[tobi]

Going direct to consumer sounds great until you realise everything that goes into making a single successful production at scale.

They can rely on IMG etc but this is different, Amazon have all the resources you can ask for and they still can't get it right.

 

[JCRD]

Not sure I follow here. The NFL sells the vast majority of it’s broadcast rights to 3rd parties, and then allow those parties to figure out how best to monetize the product with consumers.

As a league, you don’t want the risk of viewers- you want the money upfront and let someone else worry about getting viewers.

they have the Game Pass which is NFL operated or so I think. There are also prime time games which is on your usual providers eg Fox CBS etc but my understanding is Game Pass is NFL - and thats where I was going.

On the second point, I dont think there is any risk - who isnt going to pay, for arguments sake £19.99, a month for all games within the best league in the world? Youll still get streamers but really, we only get streamers now because of the 3pm blackout.

I dont know how much the PL get from broadcasters but I imagine you cut out the middleman, youll get more. Is there a risk? yeah of course but that is a low risk. I am clearly making it sound easier than it is, then again im not the PL who have much brighter minds.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Not sure you can make a direct comparison , subscribers to SKY and BT get something like a total of 15 sport channels showing different sports, as far as I know you can't just opt for football coverage only you get the whole package of different sports for you money.

Sure - I get that - it's the same in the US. My subscription to Peacock includes everything Peacock offers, sports, and non-sports. For SPorts, it includes PL, NBA, MLB, NFL, Paris-Roubaix bike race is on right now, Olympics, etc.

Paramount+ subscription includes European football (CL/EL/ECL), Serie A, Scottish League, Argentinia Liga, in addition to things like the Masters, and then all of CBS programming, and Paramount movies.

ESPN+ obviously includes sports besides carrying the domestic cups, including La Liga, Bundesliga, F1, MLB, NHL, MLB and loads of NCAA sports.


We are certainly fortunate in the US to be able to watch almost every meaningful football game, plus almost every major sport, for what amounts to less than $15/month.

 

[Johnny J]

Also, and I appreciate this is a bit of a moan, but it makes absolutely no sense that the one country that can't watch all our games on TV/streaming is the UK.

 

[Haddock]

Sure - I get that - it's the same in the US. My subscription to Peacock includes everything Peacock offers, sports, and non-sports. For SPorts, it includes PL, NBA, MLB, NFL, Paris-Roubaix bike race is on right now, Olympics, etc.

Paramount+ subscription includes European football (CL/EL/ECL), Serie A, Scottish League, Argentinia Liga, in addition to things like the Masters, and then all of CBS programming, and Paramount movies.

ESPN+ obviously includes sports besides carrying the domestic cups, including La Liga, Bundesliga, F1, MLB, NHL, MLB and loads of NCAA sports.


We are certainly fortunate in the US to be able to watch almost every meaningful football game, plus almost every major sport, for what amounts to less than $15/month.

Wow.

I pay around 90 euros a month to watch PL, EL and CL. And yeah it's the same sort of multisport-deal that includes other sports. But unfortunately it doesn't include cycling for example, so I pay another 25 euros to watch that.

 

[slartibartfast]

More greed. Oh good.