Following an extensive bidding process, the satellite broadcaster BSkyB has secured exclusive live television rights to Premiership football for a further three years in separate deals totalling £1.024 billion.
The free to air highlights package has been awarded to the BBC for £105 million, paving the way for the return of
Match Of The Day on Saturday nights from season 2004/2005.
To ensure a competitive auction and to appease regulators at the European Commission, live rights were sold in separate packages this time round. BSkyB successfully bid for all four tranches, paying £358 million for the first package of games that will be shown on Sunday afternoons.
The second tranche of matches, to be screened on Monday nights, cost £282 million while packages three and four were sold for £230 million and £154 million respectively. Games included in these latter two packages could be shown on a pay per view basis on Saturday afternoons. In all, a total of 138 live matches will be available on BSkyB every year for the next three seasons.
FA Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, commented: ”Today’s announcement is the culmination of a competitive tendering process for our UK live and free to air highlights packages. The FA Premier League will now enter into a period of exclusive negotiation to conclude agreements with the successful bidders.”
The BBCÂ’s move to win back the Saturday night highlights rights had been widely anticipated but the bid of £105 million over three years is much less than the £189 million offered by ITV back in 2000, when footballÂ’s stock was at its highest.
The EUÂ’s Competition Commission could still attempt to block the deal as it had previously voiced its disapproval of the current set-up under which BSkyB has exclusive rights to all live games (see BSkyB Could Face Red Card Over Premiership Rights Bid). However, Scudamore asserted that on this occasion, the rights had been packaged in a way that addressed the CommissionÂ’s concerns.
The remaining twelve audio-visual packages for the UK and Eire, which include radio, new media and mobile phone rights, are still to be assigned.
