BT to launch new sport TV channels to show football and rugby in pubs
The company has secured the rights to show 38 Premier League football matches a season, including “half the best games”, for three years from 2013.
It has also bought exclusive rights to broadcast Premiership rugby union matches for four years from next season and, for three years from 2014, all European rugby matches featuring English clubs.
Chief executive Marc Watson is hoping to be able to announce more sports in due course, as well as more television ‘talent’ to join presenter Jake Humphrey, who BT Vision has lured away from the BBC to front its sports coverage in time for the launch next summer.
Former barrister and sports rights specialist Watson told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser: “We’re serious about investing in this area. BT Sport will be a must-have channel for sports fans — you won’t see these games on any other channel.”
It is anticipated that the BT Sport channels will be marketed from next spring, and will initially be available by subscription via Sky, and through BT’s own technology, though specific details about platforms, packages and prices have yet to be announced.
When pushed on the issue of pricing, Watson revealed that he is in “listening mode” and in discussions with pub companies and trade bodies to determine the appropriate fees, but added promisingly: “We have no big pub TV business to protect, but we have one to create. And we’re very open-minded about how to do that. If we package and price it right, it will be an opportunity for pubs that don’t show sport to move into that space.”
He went as far as to suggest that some pubs in rugby’s regional heartlands, including Leicester, Northampton, Gloucester, Bristol and Bath, might consider BT Sport as its only supplier.
However, he added: “Sky Sports is an excellent channel, and BT Sport won’t be a substitute. Some pubs will want it as well as Sky Sports, but others may say that BT Sport is all they need.”
Watson is particularly pleased with the Premier League football matches he was personally involved in securing at a cost of £738m for BT Vision. Many of these will feature top-four Premiership clubs and most games will air at 12.45pm on Saturdays. “That’s a great time for pubs to show football,” said Watson. “It gets customers in nice and early.”
Why BT thinks it will succeed
Of course, we have heard similarly bullish predictions before. Setanta, ESPN and ITV Sport have all failed to break Sky’s recent dominance over top-flight football coverage. So what makes BT Vision think it stands a chance of establishing itself as a meaningful and long-standing supplier and Sky competitor?
Watson says that BT is aware of the scale of the task it faces — not least because of the cost of entry into the space. “It’s a challenging market, currently tied up with a single supplier — which itself is remarkable — and it will be hard to break into. Others have tried and failed — but we’re different; a much bigger business with revenues of £20bn a year. That’s bigger than Sky.
“We’re an efficiently run business that throws off lots of free cashflow, which allows us to invest with a long-term view. Being successful in this space is part of our retail business strategy — and that sits at the heart of the BT Group,” he said.
“And don’t forget that BT is not just a TV business. We’re already the biggest supplier of telecoms, broadband and Wi-Fi services to pubs. We have extensive infrastructure in place, as well as massive sales and customer service operations.
“There is huge untapped potential to expand and improve the range and quality of our services.”
BT Sport is the next big development and, in good time for the first game of the 2013/14 Premier League season on 17 August 2013, it could be coming to a pub like yours.
