Sky and BT secure Premier League broadcasting rights in deal worth more than £4bn

Sky and BT have finalised deals worth £4.464bn to broadcast Premier League football games for three seasons starting from from 2019-20.

Sky has agreed to pay £3.6bn to acquire four packs of rights totalling 128 games a season, which is up from 126 matches in the last deal.

The deal, which is a 16% cost reduction per game versus the current agreement, will offer Sky Sports viewers every first-pick weekend match, plus Saturday evening fixtures for the first time, all screened on Sky’s Premier League channel.

Sky said that it will also show “Saturday tea time matches, Super Sunday, Monday Night Football and Friday Night Football”.

BT has paid £885m to broadcast 32 matches per season. BT Sport will continue to show games at 5.30pm on Saturdays next season and then move to Saturday lunchtime fixtures from August 2019.

Stephen van Rooyen, Sky’s UK chief executive, said: “We continue to invest in content that our customers value and which complements our strategy to broaden our offer. Not only do we remain the home of Premier League football but also the home of top quality drama, entertainment, comedy and other sports.

“Our disciplined approach means we continue to have the flexibility to invest in each of these areas as we choose, underlining our position as Europe’s largest investor in content.”

Marc Allera, chief executive of BT’s Consumer division, also commented: “The Premier League is undoubtedly the most competitive and exciting domestic league in the world, so we’re delighted that our customers will be able to continue enjoying Saturday games on BT Sport.

“The Premier League is a big part of our live sport line-up, which includes the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, the Emirates FA Cup, MotoGP, boxing, Aviva Premiership rugby and European Rugby Champions Cup.

“BT Sport is enjoyed by over five million households and pubs and clubs across the UK. We are excited about the opportunity to bring this great content to even more TV and mobile customers as we pursue our strategy of being the best provider of converged network services in the UK.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →