BT chief executive Gavin Patterson has said the telecommunications company’s pay-television broadcaster BT Sport will add a “small subscription charge” for those customers wishing to access its full package of Uefa Champions League and Europa League football from the 2015-16 season.
In November 2013, BT agreed to pay about £299m (€414.7m/$446.1m) per season for the rights for three years, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, dislodging pay-television rival Sky and commercial broadcaster ITV as rights-holders in the UK.
Patterson today (Thursday) said the small subscription charge would be introduced for those wanting to access the entire 350-game package that also includes the Europa League, though some games would be free.
Patterson’s statement backs up earlier comments from John Petter, the chief executive of the consumer division at BT. Since its launch in August 2013, BT Sport has been free for the telco’s broadband customers while other viewers pay £13.50 a month. However, the arrival of the rights to Uefa’s showpiece club competitions is set to change that.
Petter told the London Evening Standard newspaper: “It will be a very reasonable price. And some games will be free as well. There’ll be a free-to-air version of BT Sport.”
He maintained this constitutes a distinction with Sky’s policy. “Sports that go exclusively pay-TV are not good for the long-term health of any sport because you narrow the base over time,” Petter said.
“We can bring something here through a model that doesn’t depend on such high subscription fees, that gives the sport access to a very large viewership through free-to-air. This, combined with a low pay threshold, is potentially a good model to adopt for sustainability in the long term.”
BT today reported a 14 per cent rise in annual profits. Pre-tax profit rose to £2.645bn for the year to the end of March but revenues at the group fell by two per cent to £17.85bn.