Concerns over rising costs for pubs to show Premier League football through BT Sport and Sky Sports

BT Sport, which launched last week, will show 38 Barclays Premier League games, including 18 ‘top picks’, in the 2013/2014 football season, while Sky will show 116 Premier League games, including 20 ‘top picks’.

However Debbie Smith of the Queens Head in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, said she won’t be able to afford to show all games. She said BT has quoted her £246 per month, but has not been able to get a reduction from Sky, for which she pays £1,160.

“I don’t know what to do as we are thinking we can’t afford it,” said Smith.

A forum comment on the PMA website from Collette Cooper said: “It now appears the content has been ‘split’ between Sky and BT, which will incur extra charges.”

Another post from The Admiral added: “The bottom line is that we will end up having to pay more to watch our national sport on TV.”

A post from Steve Allen said that having to pay for both subscriptions would cost him “in excess of £1,000 per month”.

A BT Sport spokeswoman said: “BT Sport represents tremendous value for money — with a third of the Premier League games that Sky has and almost half of the ‘top picks’. BT Sport will have three 24/7 HD sports channels launching on 1 August and more content is being added all the time.”

A Sky spokeswoman added: “Sky continues to increase its investment on-screen to bring its customers the best sports service in the UK. This year is the biggest yet for Sky Sports.”

Last year Sky announced a price freeze for its pub and club subscribers until “at least June 2013”.

Subscriptions required to view all televised FA Premier League games:​
Games per channel​
                            Sky Ultimate    BT Sport    Total
2012/13    (including ESPN) 138              –      138
2013/14                             116             38     154