BSkyB beams at taking Champions League stranglehold
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The prospect of there being no Champions League football on terrestrial television is on the cards after BSkyB yesterday secured a three-year deal to show most Champions League matches from 2009. The deal starts after next season and runs through to the end of 2011-12.
BSkyB will get the exclusive live rights to all games except one in each round up to the semi-finals, when it will show one leg of each tie. The satellite and digital broadcaster has also secured shared rights to the final and the European Super Cup.
ITV and the BBC are expected to compete with Sky for the right to broadcast the other game on Wednesday nights. Uefa, the European game's governing body, said that it had received a number of offers for the remaining rights and had invited a second round of bidding.
The BSkyB chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, said: "We have secured an excellent rights package at a price we believe reflects their value to our customers and recognises the increasing attractiveness of this competition to our business. The Champions League is going from strength to strength."
Neither BSkyB nor Uefa would say how much the broadcaster paid, though there were reports that Sky's bid was around £240m. Vic Wakeling, the managing director of Sky Sports, said: "We have used digital technology over the last five seasons to offer a menu of live games. It has worked superbly and given viewers choice."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments