UK telco BT is planning to raise the price of its sports channels after the renewal of broadcast rights to Uefa club competitions contract for the 2021-24 cycle, it has been reported.
BT announced on Friday that it had agreed to pay £400m (€460m, $509.5m) per season for the UK rights to the Champions League, Europa League and the new third-tier Europa Conference competition for the three seasons from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
According to the Telegraph, Marc Allera, chief executive of BT Consumer, said there was “more headroom” to raise prices for BT Sport in the wake of the renewal.
He said: “What we’re doing with sport is getting it to stand on its own as a product. We are pricing it more appropriately.”
BT currently charges £29.99 per month for is Sport Pack where the viewer does not also have its broadband service. The telco charges its broadband customers £16 per month for the Sport Pack, while those who have the BT TV service can add the Sport Pack for £10 per month.
The telcoms operator renewed it rights to the Uefa club competitions at a slight uplift to the £394m per season it pays for the 2018-21 cycle. The size of the deal was a surprise to the market as many had doubted the sustainability of the telco’s current outlay.
Allera said the fact BT renewed the rights at around the same fee will provide more stability for the company and allow it to boost revenues. He added that the deal was good for BT as it comprises more matches per season.
BT will have rights to a total of 420 live matches each season in the 2012-24 cycle, a rise of 77 matches from the current deal.