Rival Broadcasters Round On BSkyB’s Premiership Deal
BSkyB’s £1.024 billion deal with the Premier League has come under further threat following reports that rival broadcasters plan to complain to the Competition Commission that the football rights auction was unfair (see BSkyB And BBC Big Winners In Premiership Bidding Contest).
It is understood the broadcasters that missed out on the rights to screen live top flight football for the 2004/5 to the 2006/7 season will tell Brussels that the creation of four separate packages containing 38 or 31 matches meant they had little chance of securing them.
The Independent On Sunday claims the broadcasters will express their concern in a written submission, which the EC has requested as part of its inquiry into how Sky was allowed to maintain its long running monopoly of live Premiership Football (see EC Could Obstruct New Sky Football Deal).
The EC has made no secret of the fact that it considers the way the Premier League sells its media rights to be anti-competitive and the move could potentially lead to it blocking BSkyB’s contract to show 138 live matches per season between 2004 and 2007.
Brussels could also force the League to re-auction its media rights in smaller packages, containing fewer games, in an attempt to increase the chances of rival broadcasters securing a slice of the action.
The Premier League, which structured the deal in accordance with the EC’s desire to promote competition, insists it addressed all of the regulator’s concerns by ensuring that no bid was conditional on another (see Premiership Moves Goal Posts On Media Rights Packages).
However, it is understood that Brussels will investigate whether the bidding process was truly competitive and will request additional information on whether the individual packages attracted several bids (see BSkyB’s Football Rights Deal Could Face Investigation).
European Commission: www.europa.eu.int Premier League: 020 7298 160 www.premierleague.com
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