Thetownend.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18430036

Really didn't see that coming,


That's me getting rid of ESPN then, Can't afford three sporting channels. Shame because I like ESPN, get the Classic channel with it which I enjoy, but that's not worth the money.

I have BT Vision, doubt that they'll include it as part of my package.

That said, I do get ESPN as part of my sports package at the moment, so maybe I will.

Forgive my lack of knowledge on this but would this effect pub/bars screening games?

I doubt it. BT Sport will just become another channel just like ESPN that will be carried by Sky/Virgin etc.

Cheers - I didn't think so.

The classic channel is free with Sky sports I think.

Yup. Ali v Fraser right now, The Thrilla in Manila.

Just remembered that I had the XL package with Virgin so get ESPN free anyway, hopefully the BT Channel will be add no extra fee with that package.

That is a crazy amount of money being paid for the rights. Watching football live is going to get a lot more expensive.

Will ESPN give up in the UK I wonder.

They should concentrate on the Euro Leagues, some very good football being played in over there.

Can't see ESPN leaving the UK market, they're pretty sensible when it comes to paying for rights (hence why they've given the Premier League a miss) so their overheads will be comparatively low. They've got quite a good line up of sports plus their America and Classics channels are popular.

The difference for BT and Sky is that they will use them to drive sales of bundles including all their services, hence they can justify the outlay.

I can see ESPN trying to become a package channel rather than a standalone premium sports channel. There are a lot of American sports that's true, but demand is spread between them all and I can't see NFL, NHL, rounders or netball driving enough sales. We'll see.

Interestingly BT has won 18 "first pick" games to Sky's 20. This in theory makes Sky's package weaker than it is now.

so will ESPN no longer be showing Prem Football?

They will for 2012/13, but from 2013 they will no longer have the rights.

I'm hoping (greedily, because I have BT Vision) that BT and Sky will cut some kind of deal whereby Sky run the BT Sport channel and reciprocate by making SS3, SS4, SSN & SkyF1 available on BT Vision.

Let's hope so. The whole £3bn package just seems to me to be yet a further widening of the gap between rich and poor in English football (irrespective of a few crumbs of "trickle-down" money thrown the FL's way), and most of the extra money in the PL will just be blown on even more obscene players' wages and agents' fees. Which will in turn serve only to cause even more clubs lower down to over-reach themselves in an attempt to reach the promised land.

The one ray of hope is if SKY and BT are forced to push up their prices so high to pay for all this that their subscribers won't pay it and the whole house of cards will collapse.

I may have a bit of a monk on this morning, but yet more money in the PL TV pot just sounds to me like extremely bad news. Unless I've missed something in the announcement? It all just seemed to be being trumpeted as a wholly uncritical "All hail the all-conquering Premier League and the Warrior Knight Richard Scudamore" or "Gosh, isn't football bonkers?" type story in all the coverage I've heard/seen, with absolutely zero sensible analysis

Now wouldn't that be funny

I'm finishing with Sky Sports in a few days and to be honest don't know if I can be bothered to renew any more in the Autumn. Mainly I couldn't give a toss about Norwich v West Brom, or whatever, at the best of times, let alone at the new inflated rate they'll both charge.

I've never understood why the lower leagues, maybe including the Championship, don't do their own multi-game deals rather than the fill-in games scattered over Sky / BBC we seem to get at the moment. (Yes I know there's already a deal, but it all seems haphazard as to when games are on.) Surely a local (A420?) derby or top of the table clash, for all 3 divisions, would be a commercial success for ITV or ESPN at lunchtime and 5pm on a Saturday, or Sunday avo? I'd pay a tenner a month for say 10+ non-Prem live games.

Nobody watches them?

Most premier league games have less viewers than a standard midsomer murders repeat and they cost next to nothing to play out.

ITV tried that years ago when they were starting to launch what is now called freeview and they made a massive clusterfuck of it