BT has launched its new Champions League plans, sending its shares higher but putting rival Sky under pressure.
BT outbid Sky by paying £897m for a three year package of matches, and just days after Barcelona beat Juventus in this year’s final, BT said it would offer future games free to new and existing customers of its TV service and for £5 a month to broadband subscribers. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker will anchor BT’s coverage of the competition.
The news has pushed BT 0.7p higher to 439.5p in a falling market, while Sky is down 12p at £10.14. Ahead of the BT announcement Liberum repeated its sell rating on Sky:
BT launches their Champions League offer to analysts and investors this morning. In a pre-emptive move, Sky sent round an e-mail showing how Champions League audiences has fallen over the past four years, presumably to demonstrate that having Champions League exclusivity will not be a game changer for BT.
The problem for Sky here is that their customers are increasingly asking whether they are getting bang for their buck with Sky (our last proprietary consumer survey showed a sharp increase in Sky customers considering switching to BT on quality grounds), especially after recent price increases, and an aggressive marketing campaign by BT highlighting that it has exclusivity of Champions League rights is likely to fuel this. Reiterate sell.
