BT chairman Sir Michael Rake admitted the telecommunications company had faced criticism from shareholders about its expenditure on live domestic English Premier League rights that it acquired last month.
The Financial Times reports that shareholders “expressed concern” about BT’s financial outlay on the Premier League rights at its annual meeting on Wednesday. BT purchased two of the seven available rights packages in the three-year cycle from 2013-14 to 2015-16, for £246 million (€308 million/$384 million) per season, with pay-television broadcaster BSkyB acquiring the other five packages for £760 million per season.
The newspaper said that BT’s confirmation that it had also bid for the packages which were won by Sky could surprise analysts given the negative effect that BT’s current £246 million-a-year commitment is expected to have on earnings in the period. The telco has previously never commented on reports it had targeted more than the two packages it secured, citing contract confidentiality.
BT chief executive Ian Livingstone told shareholders that the company would drive revenue from its Premier League rights by bundling football packages into its broadband and television services.