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ARTICLE · 19 NOVEMBER 2013

BT Go Sky High

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On Saturday 9 November, it was announced that British Telecom (BT) had won the exclusive rights to show 350 live Champions League (CL) and Europa League (EL) matches in the UK for three seasons from the 2015-16 season. Since then £1.5bn has been wiped off BSkyB’s (Sky) stock market value.

United KingdomMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment

On Saturday 9 November, it was announced that British Telecom (BT) had won the exclusive rights to show 350 live Champions League (CL) and Europa League (EL) matches in the UK for three seasons from the 2015-16 season. Since then £1.5bn has been wiped off BSkyB's (Sky) stock market value.

The Package

BT has paid a reported £900m to UEFA for the live rights. Previously, Sky and ITV, who are the current incumbents, paid just under £400m. This deal is different to past agreements with UEFA in which the package of rights was split between two broadcasters. This time, BT has won all the available packages with the consequence that for the first time, no live CL or EL action will be available on terrestrial TV. It has been reported however that each UK club, once a season, will be screened free of charge on the BT platform including both CL and EL finals.

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