BSkyB grabs European soccer
Company takes majority of U.K. rights
The auction for what is regarded as the cream of European soccer was expected to last several months, but the size of BSkyB’s bid ensured an early victory.
The outfit’s stock price climbed 2.7% on the news.
The satcaster is believed to have outbid rivals ITV, the BBC and Setanta for exclusive U.K. rights to all but one match per round of games from the opening of the 2009-10 season.
BSkyB topper Jeremy Darroch said: “We have secured an excellent rights package at a price that we believe reflects their value to our customers and that recognizes the increasing attractiveness of this competition to our business.”
Rights to the Champions League are presently shared by ITV and BSkyB.
The paybox’s determination to win the bidding war was influenced by having of late lost exclusive coverage to several big English soccer tournaments and matches.
These include the English domestic knockout contest, the FA Cup, international games featuring England, both previously shared with the BBC but secured by ITV and paybox Setanta.
BSkyB, whose coverage of live soccer is the key driver of its pay TV activities, also lost some English Premier League matches, which are now shown by Setanta, following intervention by the European Union.
The live rights to the most attractive mid-week match in the Champions League are still to play for, with ITV and the BBC expected to slug it out.
