BT Sport makes its move

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22462525

BT Sport 1 and 2 will be free to BT Broadband customers. That is quite a lot of sport, including 38 live Premier Games. Quite incredible move, and might break the near-monopoly of Sky Sports. Hats off to BT for that.

So if you have BT Broadband, you get the BT Sport channels free?

Quality!

http://www.bt.com/sport/3-ways-to-watch-bt-sport.html

I believe that is correct Olly, might force Sky Sports into a rethink.

The Sky monopoly will never be broken.

This smells of another itv digital to me. Hopefully I'm wrong but as I've been aware there has been an awful lot of money spent just to acquire British ESPN.

Least its being given free to broadband customers so no worries from me at the moment.

i cant see it affecting sky in the long run to be honest..

Why can't everyone just get Sky.

Its cheap and class. Couldn't live without it.

NickisBHAFC wrote:Why can't everyone just get Sky.

Its cheap and class. Couldn't live without it.

£100 a month for all the channels isn't cheap, it's extortionate! BT Vision is only £12 a month and I get all the channels I want bar Sky Sports News, which has gone massively downhill the last 2-3 years anyway.

What package are you looking at? Costs half that for sports and Internet...

It's what my parents pay, they have everything I have with BT but pay about £60 more per month. All they get is movie channels (I have DVDs) and the sports channels (MOTD covers that).

BT is a massive company, has a rich history of doing things the right way, and has proven time and time again that they succeed when putting their efforts into something. I think this will be the downfall of Sky's monopoly.

For everything we get for Sky at £50 a month i find bluddy cheap IMO.

£50 a month is hardly a huge huge amount of money. Also i get everything accept from Sky Movies. But if i wanted to watch a Movie i would just rent one or go to the cinema.

Azzy Mahmood wrote:It's what my parents pay, they have everything I have with BT but pay about £60 more per month. All they get is movie channels (I have DVDs) and the sports channels (MOTD covers that).

BT is a massive company, has a rich history of doing things the right way, and has proven time and time again that they succeed when putting their efforts into something. I think this will be the downfall of Sky's monopoly.

Motd isn't really the same as 4 dedicated hd sports channels is it...

Sky are a massive company and have a better track record than bt who have made this move as they are haemorraghing phone and broadband customers to sky, virgin etc

Sky broadband is actually cheaper than bt, which is why I changed to them.

We have BT Broadband but took them up on their offer of getting Sky Sports 1 and 2 for £12 a month (wife and I were spending more than that in the pub everytime there was a Super Sunday). Unsurprisingly, the £12 has since gone up to £20 a month (but it's still cheaper than an afternoon's drinking at the local).

We're wondering whether or not to keep the Sky aspect as we can still afford it but hope that they'd be showing different matches to BT Sport.

Also BT Sport will suck.

DAVE667 wrote:We have BT Broadband but took them up on their offer of getting Sky Sports 1 and 2 for £12 a month (wife and I were spending more than that in the pub everytime there was a Super Sunday). Unsurprisingly, the £12 has since gone up to £20 a month (but it's still cheaper than an afternoon's drinking at the local).

We're wondering whether or not to keep the Sky aspect as we can still afford it but hope that they'd be showing different matches to BT Sport.

I believe BT have taken ESPN's old coverage, SKY hold 5/6 packages - BT might have a game every other week.

I can't find the tv advert on youtube but the ad i saw a couple of hours ago (not the Jake one) said it's only free for the first year.
Have to keep an eye and ear out for it when it comes on again.

Hulking_up wrote:I can't find the tv advert on youtube but the ad i saw a couple of hours ago (not the Jake one) said it's only free for the first year.
Have to keep an eye and ear out for it when it comes on again.

That's bt going out of business then, good effort.

This whole thing is going to end in a Disaster. Sky should just have all Prem games, since there the best and no other Sports coverage can compare to them.

Ent wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:We have BT Broadband but took them up on their offer of getting Sky Sports 1 and 2 for £12 a month (wife and I were spending more than that in the pub everytime there was a Super Sunday). Unsurprisingly, the £12 has since gone up to £20 a month (but it's still cheaper than an afternoon's drinking at the local).

We're wondering whether or not to keep the Sky aspect as we can still afford it but hope that they'd be showing different matches to BT Sport.

I believe BT have taken ESPN's old coverage, SKY hold 5/6 packages - BT might have a game every other week.

BT have 38 games, so one every week!

Probably the ESPN Saturday 5:30 kick off game ill imagine.

I think BT have the Saturday lunchtime kick-offs whilst Sky have nabbed the Saturday evening games. BT have 18 first pick matches so will get some top quality Premiership games, unlike the dross that ESPN often had.

First Pick?

Please don't tell me there going to get the huge huge games that would be stupid!

They don't.

Fantastic news

They will get some of the 'huge huge games'. Let's at least give them a chance.

Do they have the FA Cup also?

They have the same rights to the FA Cup as ESPN currently do, so yes. They also wish to expand on that:

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/bt-sport-to-bid-for-fa-cup-rights/5054801.article

Sky pay the big money for the big games.

Yep and they've lost 18 big games so hard luck for them.

So in other words blockbuster matches like Man Utd v Man City and Arsenal v Chelsea are not guaranteed Sky games now?

FreekShow wrote:So in other words blockbuster matches like Man Utd v Man City and Arsenal v Chelsea are not guaranteed Sky games now?

http://www.totalfootballmag.com/features/premier-league-features/bt-enter-the-live-football-arena/

"The packages BT won are mainly for Saturday lunchtime matches, including the first match of each season and midweek offerings.

Included in the deal are 18 first pick games, which means that Sky have also lost the exclusive deal they have had of all the big head-to-head encounters such as Manchester United’s showdowns with Arsenal and Liverpool’s meetings against Chelsea."

No longer guaranteed for Sky it would appear.

From a bit of digging around on the internet, these are the packages for Premier League football in this country:

Spoiler:

BT managed to get A and G, Sky got the rest.

This is just stupid.

I've got Sky, but i am on BT Broadband. Do i get the BT Sports Channels?

Why's it stupid? Good for Sky to have competition I think. And yes I think you would get it for free:

http://www.bt.com/sport/3-ways-to-watch-bt-sport.html

Because SKY is just class, everyone should have it IMO. It is so much better than any sport coverage. ITV is just dreadful all round. BBC is ok but people like Dan Walker and Ray Stubbs are not.

Can't really complain about anyone on Sky, unless its Niall Quinn.

Yes it is class, but not everyone can afford it. Anyway, you don't know (yet) how good or bad BT's coverage will be.

It'll be the same as every other broadcaster I imagine. They'll be a few cameras overlooking a football pitch where a football match is taking place.

Sky will get first priority for those games. Sounds good in theory

GSC wrote:Sky will get first priority for those games. Sounds good in theory

Apart from the 18 games where they won't.

I'd be very surprised if Man United vs Man City and the like aren't on Sky next season.

The PL knows what side its bread is buttered on.

Well the PL had it's choice when it was selling the rights, and they sold one of the big packages to BT, who are actually paying more money per game than Sky apparently.

Sky also paid about 3 times as much overall. As I say, it sounds nice in theory, but I'd be surprised if Sky don't see off yet another challenger.

My problem is that this isn't genuine competition and the casual fan ends up paying more so they can watch all the games.

As a football fan with a sky sub I can now choose to either miss out on games, pay £10-15 a month for bt sport or pay a tenner a month more for their broadband (not as good as sky's) to get the package with bt sport included. Who knows what changes will come in next year.

It sucks as it is not true competition - true competition would be multiple channels having rights to all games and a customer choosing which to subscribe to based on their presentation, pundits, presenters, picture quality etc.

Fair play to bt for giving this a go but essentially it is costing me and other football fans who already pay to watch games.

Have BT Sport announced any pundits?

NickisBHAFC wrote:Have BT Sport announced any pundits?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2321871/BT-Sport-Michael-Owen-lead-commentator--prices-pundits-game-season-more.html

Interesting what they've gone for, seems like they are going to have a current player on every week but no individual that often.

Do we think this is a good or bad thing?

Bad.

As long as it's not Adebayor it's fine. I can't understand a word he says.

I think it has the potential to be good

I worry they'll be a bit too pc given they are potentially going to be playing against the guys they are criticising in the near future.

Might end up being a bit bland.