BSkyB Could Pay Up To £1bn For Premiership Rights

BSkyB is reportedly considering paying up to £1 billion to secure the rights to broadcast Premier League football matches, despite facing less competition from rivals.

The £1 billion that BSkyB is believed to be willing to pay for the rights is only slightly less than the £1.1 billion that it paid in 2000 to broadcast Premiership matches between 2001 and 2004.

BSkyB had been expected to make a much lower bid following the collapse of ITV Digital and reduced competition from troubled cable networks, NTL and Telewest. However, the broadcaster has made football the cornerstone of its pay-TV strategy and speculation suggests that it is keen to retain the rights.

A spokesman for BSkyB dismissed the reports as “nonsense” and refused to confirm whether it had discussed the matter of rights at board level.

Last year it was reported that a clause in BSkyB’s existing contract could prevent it from submitting a lower bid when the current £1.1bn three-year deal comes up for renewal. However, this was also dismissed by a spokesman for the company (see BSkyB Unable To Reduce Football Rights Bid).

Back In June BSkyB secured a £95 million TV rights deal with the Football League to screen live matches from the Nationwide Football League and Worthington Cup (see BSkyB Helps Football League With £95m TV Rights Deal).

BSkyB: 020 7705 3000 www.sky.com

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