BSkyB has snapped up one of the last two remaining packages to broadcast live Premier League football for the 2010 to the 2013 seasons. In total, BSkyB obtained 5 out of the 6 packages with Setanta claiming the other one. Meaning around 80% of all live football will be shown on Sky.
ESPN were expected to make a late bid but whether or not they did or whether or not they just didn’t want to splash the cash remains to be seen.
Sky opens up its purse strings to splash the cash for more Premier League rights
So just how much is the Premier League worth to show on TV? £1.782bn is how much!
This is about 5% more than the current deal is worth… who said anything about a credit crunch?
Half of the broadband revenue is split across all 20 premier league clubs. A further 25% is also distributed to clubs depending on how many televised games a club appears in.
The good news for the football fan is that nothing much changes. Sky is still showing the majority of matches with Setanta still broadcasting the late Saturday afternoon matches. We will also still be hearing the Match of the Day tune on the BBC with their rights been secured up until the 2012 2013 season.