How bloody annoying and yes I know its old news now, but its still winding me up that UEFA have decided to give Sky the television broadcasting rights to the majority of the Champions League football games from next season! Sky have reportedly paid around £240 million in the TV deal! There is some light at the in all this though as ITV or the BBC could potentially obtain the rights to first choice games and joint TV rights to the Champions League final. We will have to see though I just hope they don't take all Champions League football games away from terrestrial television as apart from the FA Cup we don't get to watch much football on TV anymore.
A Statement from UEFA said "After the first round of bidding, BSkyB emerged as the clear winner for a number of rights packages... The rights will be widely exploited across all broadcast platforms ensuring significant audiences and exposure throughout the UK. By virtue of its commitment to industry-leading production standards and its unrivalled programming capacity, Sky Sports has proved to be an exceptional partner for the UEFA Champions League in the UK for a number of years. UEFA has received a number of offers for the remaining rights. However, the competitive nature of the bidding has been such that the award of these rights has yet to be concluded. UEFA has therefore invited a second round of bidding, and a separate statement in relation to the award of these rights will be made in due course."
Jeremy Darroch from Sky said "We have secured an excellent rights package at a price which we believe reflects their value to our customers and which recognises the increasing attractiveness of this competition to our business. The Champions League as a competition is going from strength to strength, as is the performance and contribution of English and Scottish clubs."
Any finally Vic Wakeling who is the Sky Sports managing directed said about the Champions League TV deal "We have secured an excellent rights package at a price which we believe reflects their value to our customers and which recognises the increasing attractiveness of this competition to our business. The Champions League as a competition is going from strength to strength, as is the performance and contribution of English and Scottish clubs."
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