By Simon Zekaria
LONDON--BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) Tuesday said its subscribers who
take its pay-television service will have access to 351 matches
from the UEFA Champions League and Europa League soccer
competitions next season, as U.K. broadcasters raise the stakes to
win viewers.
"We have opened the market to millions of new customers," said
Chief Executive John Petter.
Telecommunications giant BT has paid billions of dollars to
secure key British and European soccer television rights and bulk
up its sports channels. BT's sports-broadcasting platform is a key
strategic play to leverage its core broadband telephony business
and compensate for declining fixed-line customers, while also
bringing stiff competition to pay-TV giant Sky PLC (SKY.LN).
BT paid nearly 900 million pounds ($1.38 billion) for European
soccer rights, previously held by Sky and over-the-air broadcaster
ITV PLC (ITV.LN).
BT has also agreed to buy mobile operator EE to spook rivals in
the U.K.'s rapidly-advancing market of combined telephony,
broadband and TV services.
"[BT] has raised the stakes and Sky will need to respond. Within
a short period of time, BT has proved to be highly disruptive and
we expect the company to continue innovating and challenge Sky for
access to more premium sports content," said CCS Insight analyst
Paolo Pescatore.
"It represents a statement of intent and underlines the scale
and ambition to be a leading media and telecoms provider in the
U.K."
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said Sky's
audience for the Champions League European soccer competition fell
36% last season, with domestic soccer driving viewing figures.
"Overall, Champions League accounts for just 2.5% of Sky Sports
viewing, while the [English] Premier League is seven times bigger,"
he said in a recent statement.
Sky has the lion share of live broadcasting rights for English
Premier League soccer matches for 2016 to 2019, paying GBP.39
billion in each of the three years of the new agreement, an 83%
increase over the cost of its existing contract.
--Write to Simon Zekaria at simon.zekaria@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
