BT buys ESPN UK & Ireland TV Channel Business

[Guest San Don]

Didnt see this coming!

 

BT Group acquires ESPN’s UK and Ireland television channels business | BT Life - the entertainment and technology blog from BT

 

 

BT Group acquires ESPN’s UK and Ireland television channels business

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Posted by BT Life Newsdesk

 

February 25th 2013 at 13:00

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It’s a big day for BT Sport with news that we have reached an agreement to acquire the ESPN and ESPN America channels in the UK and Ireland, including FA Cup, Scottish Premier League, European football and more is being added to the package of top action which will be available from this summer.

 

BT Group and ESPN announced today that they have agreed that BT will acquire ESPN’s UK and Ireland TV channels business. These primarily comprise the ESPN and ESPN America channels and their live sports rights portfolio, including the FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, UEFA Europa League, and the German Bundesliga.

 

The transaction is expected to complete on July 31, 2013 after which BT will continue to operate at least one ESPN-branded channel which is expected to form part of the BT Sport TV package that will be launched by BT this summer. Additionally, the deal will allow BT to continue to show a host of US sports currently shown on ESPN America, including NCAA College Basketball, NCAA College Football and NASCAR. The ESPN channels will be broadcast from BT Sport’s new home in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Until completion, the service for current subscribers to the ESPN channels across all television platforms remains unchanged.

 

The deal will enable BT Sport customers to see live coverage of the FA Cup for the 2013/14 season, the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League until the end of the 2016/17 season and the UEFA Europa League and German Bundesliga through to the end of the 2014/15 season. These join the broadcast rights that BT Sport has previously announced, including 38 live Barclays Premier League matches – including 18 of the top clashes – in each of the next three seasons (beginning August 2013); 69 live Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for the next four seasons; and up to 800 hours per season of live women’s tennis, including the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.

 

ESPN will continue to own and operate its existing digital media businesses which include multisport news and information portal ESPN.co.uk, ESPNcricinfo (cricket), ESPNFC (football), ESPNscrum (rugby), ESPNF1 (Formula 1) and broadband streaming service ESPN Player. ESPN Classic has been excluded from the proposed transaction.

[niallers]

I asked in another thread if any of ye knew bout bt's coverage or possible coverage over here in ireland and a direct qoute from bt is(for anyone who's interested): In relation to a possible roll-out of BT Sport in Ireland, a spokesperson told The Irish Times that the company “are considering our options and will announce our plans in due course”.

 

Hopefully we'll get access to it on some level.

[Pidge]

They need to get their own direct TV service to a few more people over here before worrying about foreign territory.

[Lee909]

Makes the most sense from BT,they have a established already running channel and can show the games on there,while also having the rights to various other sports from ESPN.

I'm just happy as I can continue to watch the college football on ESPN America.

[RobbieOR]

I asked in another thread if any of ye knew bout bt's coverage or possible coverage over here in ireland and a direct qoute from bt is(for anyone who's interested): In relation to a possible roll-out of BT Sport in Ireland, a spokesperson told The Irish Times that the company “are considering our options and will announce our plans in due course”.

 

Hopefully we'll get access to it on some level.

 

Of course we'll get it. The demand over here is huge.

[Guest San Don]

They need to get their own direct TV service to a few more people over here before worrying about foreign territory.

 

Having won the best pick in the new tv rights and now espn's other sports rights would be part of that I guess.

 

Dont forget, the more they, BT, have the more bargaining chips sky subscribers will have for negotiating some discount on ever increasing subs.

[Tyler Durden]

Wonder what part our soon to be retired club legend will play?

 

Anyone know what the cost will be if your on sky yet?

[diving headers]

bt and google tv are going to have a real crack at skys dominance.

[Guest San Don]

Wonder what part our soon to be retired club legend will play?

 

Anyone know what the cost will be if your on sky yet?

 

Dont think pricing has been worked out but, it could be that seeing they have just bought ESPN's channels, they may remain available via the Astra satellite (commonly known as the sky platform) for roughly the same price or maybe a quid or two more.

 

In turn, subscribers taking up BT Vision or whatever its called via FTTC may pay a quid or two less.

 

BT's aim is to drive people away from sky's bundle of tv, broadband and phone to their own bundled services so pricing would have to undercut sky.