UK telecommunications company BT has said its pay-television broadcaster BT Sport may consider entering a bid for the rights to the 2015-16 to 2017-18 cycle of the Uefa Champions League football competition.
Uefa, football’s European governing body, last week invited bids for the media rights in the UK to the Champions League, along with the Europa League and Super Cup club competitions.
Bids must be submitted by November 5 and BT chief executive Gavin Patterson has indicated that the company may enter the running.
Speaking at the Leaders in Football event, Patterson said: “We are happy with the content we have got, but we also recognise there is much more we could do. This is a long-term strategy for us and you can expect us to do a lot more in the future if the right opportunity to create value presents itself.”
He added: “We look at all rights. There is nothing special in that respect around the Champions League. There are other rights available at the moment as well as over the next couple of years and we will look at them and assess whether we feel as if they can improve the overall composition, which is what you would expect.”
Pay-television broadcaster BSkyB and commercial broadcaster ITV are the current UK rights holders of the Champions League under three-year deals, from 2012-13 to 2014-15.