The Sport Thread

Also means Big ears wages gets even more inflated...

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!! 📣

BT Sport will remain the exclusive home of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League until 2024.

We can't wait to share more epic moments like this with you!

🎶 The Chaaaaampioooons 🎶 pic.twitter.com/s6u3X4bLqZ

— BT Sport (@btsport) November 15, 2019

And here's the full announcement: https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-wins-exclusive-rights-to-uefa-champions-league-uefa-europa-league-and-uefa-europa-conference-league-until-2024/

Why? UEFA aren’t paying his wages.

I must admit, even as a great supporter of BTTV, this came as an enormous, yet welcome surprise. I was stealing myself to hear that Sky had won the auction. This makes me wonder whether after a number of major losses, such as Scottish Football, FA Cup and WTA tennis, BT have turned around and are about to begin an aggressive fight for rights in 2020 and beyond. Of course a lot depends on what we discover in four weeks time but this greatly encourages me going forward.

BT reportedly are to update their hardware in early 2020 so the technical advances haven't stopped yet.

Don’t worry, after re-nationalisation they’ll have the rights to everything.

Yes. I was fully expecting a Sky/ITV bid to be parped loudly this morning. But no. BT retain, and anything that means less Clive Tyldsley coming out of my tv's speakers is great news.
So well done BT. Please put up my sports subscription by more than the RPI each year, by way of congratulations.
(#scarcasm)

One wonders if they had lost the UEFA European Club competiton rights completly, what would have happened.
At least the closure of one of the BT Sport channels?

I've been scanning the list of rights coming up for auction next year, the big football package will be at the end of the year, when the UEFA Nations League 2023, Euro 2024 Qualifiers and 2026 World Cup Qualifiers will be up for auction by UEFA/FIFA.

The interesting one that Sky might go in for is English Domestic Club Rugby from 2021-2 onwards, BT's tenure ends in the Spring of 2021, so that'll hit the auction block next year.

BT's Ligue 1 and Bundesliga rights are available too from 2021, Premier might bid but these are useful for BT. Premier's Serie-A rights also expire in the same timeframe.

BT's Moto GP rights have another couple of seasons to run, I'm wondering when these become available whether Sky might want these to expand their F1 channel into a full Motorsport service.

Cycling has a couple of interesting events expiring on Eurosport after next year, La Vuelta and the Giro d'Italia rights expire, I'd reallty be surprised if Eurosport don't renew these as a matter of course, especially now that Sky are no longer in the game.

Cricket, Tennis and Golf are already signed into the middle of the next decade with Sky, AZPV and Eurosport.

A less than frantic year, but some interesting contests to observe.

Not surprised BT won but a shame FTA remains locked out. Will be interesting to find out how much they raised their bid by - suspect nowadays Sky and BT would often rather force the opposition to pay more than win the rights themselves.

Suggestion heard that the three 2015 KOs on Amazon Prime Video Sport in early December will be the ones offered in UHD. The remainder in HD only.

i.e. these fixtures
Burnley - Manchester City on Tue 3rd,
Liverpool - Everton on Wed 4th and
Arsenal - Brighton on Thu 5th.

Guess nobody told John Inverdale that there is no Final Score today.

He didn't realise that it's an international weekend? Final Score is usually only on when the top two divisions are playing.

Considering BT is one of the key sponsors of each of the Home Nations now, which I've been reminded of seeing the warm up of NIR-NED this evening on Sky Sports, A serious BT challenge for these rights really can't be dismissed.