Despite fears that it had overextended itself by paying 100 per cent more than
the current contract was sold for back in 2011, BT insisted that it had
plenty of cash in reserve to continue to outbid its rivals whenever it saw
fit.
Refusing to reveal what BT TV’s next move would be, its chief executive Marc
Watson told Telegraph Sport: “We’re a well-run company. We produce a decent
amount of cash and that means we can afford to make investments if we think
they’re the right investments to make to build value for the company.
“That was true a month ago and that remains true today.”
Having added the rights to 350 Champions League and Europa League matches to
its Premier League and FA Cup games – not to mention its Premiership rugby
offering – BT is now well stocked for premium content from August to May in
the coming years.
However, it has a major hole to fill during the summer months, with the likes
of MotoGP, the WTA Tour and the Ultimate Fighting Championship unlikely to
gain much in terms of ratings or subscribers.
Major cricket, on the other hand, would be a real winner and its next big move
could therefore be for the rights for International Cricket Council events,
including the World Cup, World Twenty20 and the new World Test Championship.
Those are available from 2015, whereas BT would have to play a longer game
with the England and Wales Cricket Board rights, which Sky last year tied up
until 2017, with an option to extend to 2019.
It is a similar story with the Ryder Cup, which Sky has under lock and key
until 2018, but major golf tournaments such as the Masters and the US Open
will be available much sooner.
Getting into men’s tennis would hardly break the bank, with ITV’s French Open
coverage soon up for grabs and Sky’s US Open rights also an attractive
proposition.
These pale into insignificance compared to Premier League football, the lion’s
share of which has been held by Sky since the division was formed. It will
not give up any of these without a fight and, notwithstanding the Champions
League blow, has proven more than adept at holding on to content since BT’s
emergence.
The past year alone has seen it renew 20 contracts, some presumably under
challenge from the likes of BT.
The upshot of such fierce competition has been almost exponential inflation in
many areas of the sports rights market, something that is ultimately
unsustainable.
Leading media analyst Claire Enders described it as “mutually assured
destruction”, and the realisation of that could ultimately see peace break
out between these two warring giants. After all, BT may have thought twice
about entering the sports rights market had BSkyB not refused to wholesale
its channels to its newest and biggest rival.
Were that row ever to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, securing such
rights would suddenly have considerably less value. Until then, expect
greater and greater sums to be wagered on what has become one of sport’s
most compelling stories.