BT sport & Eurosport Merger

[Super+Anthony]

@Plektrum Really hope the PL don't let more buyers otherwise surely they will be worried that the consumer will stop buying more and more? I might be wrong and people will be happy to keep purchasing for different platforms

[SKY1992bf]

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@Super+Anthony wrote:

@SKY1992bf That's very useful to know and positive. I can't see Amazon losing

 Currently it's - Sky / BT and Amazon, I therefore presume TNT will replace BT?

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@Super+Anthony  Correct 

[Super+Anthony]

But then we might see DAZN,Viaplay and Apple joining. Hope not

[SKY1992bf]

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@Super+Anthony wrote:

@Plektrum Really hope the PL don't let more buyers otherwise surely they will be worried that the consumer will stop buying more and more? I might be wrong and people will be happy to keep purchasing for different platforms

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Although I have access to all three at the moment within household I'm only paying for sky/bt myself has they have the majority 

should sky/bt lose majority providing they retain some rights I'll likely stick with those two because between them they have the rights to the other sports I like sewed 🧵 up 

[rscott]

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@Super+Anthony wrote:

@Plektrum Really hope the PL don't let more buyers otherwise surely they will be worried that the consumer will stop buying more and more? I might be wrong and people will be happy to keep purchasing for different platforms

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The PL aren't worried about the consumer - they only care about maximising the revenue from the contracts with the broadcasters.

And I think people need to realise that if Amazon or Apple get a sizeable chunk of the TV rights, they'll be paying very handsomely for it. So expect the cost to the viewer to go up considerably too.

[d2h]

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@Plektrum wrote:

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@Super+Anthony wrote:

@PlektrumSo you saying we will have to pay for 4 or even 5 different groups. We paying enough as it is. Surely the Govenment or someone needs to step in, on behalf of the customer and its unfair that we need to keep paying more and more, and especially in these tough times. OR they should be offereing all these prices under one roof. This is where SKY/Virgin need to use common sense and show that they REALLY do care for the customer, rather than just being concerned with profits. I know we dont have to pay for everything, but at present , we paying for BT Sports / Sky Sports (Should be more reasonable in price and should not be anywhere near what Sky charge) / Amazon

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I'm just making a guess and may well be wrong! But the blind auction process for these packages could ensure something like that happens, especially if the likes of Apple, DAZN or Viaplay get into the fray!

There may be an argument for allowing the PL to negotiate with the incumbents (and I think the last deal was a step closer to seeing that happen sometime in the future) before taking them to market but I think the PL like the current process as it maximises the possible outlay and the biggest bid wins - and depending on who it is, they will have their own commercial incentives to offer as they see fit instead of being concerned about us! 

Look at DAZN's recent price hike in Italy - you could be paying over 40-50 Euros a month now (so much for being the streaming good guys of sport) so the winner will do what they need to get a return on that investment.

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Just to clarify a point - the Premier League have always held talks with the incumbent broadcasters ahead of publishing the ITT. It's the incumbent broadcasters who essentially tell the Premier League what works for them, what they would like to see, what doesn't work etc. That feedback then gets discussed at the AGM and is formulated into the ITT where appropriate. It's a case of the umbilical cord being severed upon the ITT being issued and highest bidder wins. 

The last deal was completely different and had to gain government approval, which resulted in an exclusion order being made under competition law. This happened in virtually all sectors and wasn't exclusive to the Premier League. 

The Premier League asking for special treatment, and the government so much as considering it again, would result in valid legal challenges that simply aren't worth it when they will very much prefer to go to market. Don't forget that the Premier League are already well aware of interest... the only thing that's "blind" is the auction/bid submission. 

[Plektrum]

I was aware of how the last deal went through but other than that, nicely explained! 👍🏾

[Super+Anthony]

I found the below on this site under a new section and was mentioned by an employee

BT Sport channels are being rebranded as TNT Sports, with Premier League football next season to be shown on the new channel. The change will happen this summer, after the announcement by BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery.

This exciting merger will allow all sports fans to watch the world’s biggest sporting events: the Olympic Games, Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Premiership Rugby , MotoGP, UFC, Boxing, WWE, tennis Grand Slams, cycling Grand Tours and the winter sports season.

Is TNT sports available to me?

TNT Sports will be available on Sky+, Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky Stream and Sky Go.

Sky customers with BT Sport don't have to do anything, they'll automatically have access to TNT Sports channels when the change happens.

Eurosport channels will also re-brand to TNT Sports at a later date. For now, customers get access to Eurosport 1 & 2 via discovery+, which comes at no extra cost with Sky TV.

[RobertS83]

@Super+Anthony this is also on the sky TV news section of this help forum 

[lettice]

After watching the 9 hours yesterday of the FIA World Endurance Championship series (with Le Mans) on Europsort, do hope this merger does not going forward affect us dedicated Motorsport fans.
Eurosport have done us so proud over the years for this series especially, but also other Motorsport.
Realy enjoyed the commentary from Anthony Davison yesterday

[Timelord2018]

Ignore..

[nolte]

@lettice 

Cycling fan here and have the same concern

[CardiffMan1992]

Very true I hope that the coverage gets better not worse.