BT Sport were left embarrassed on the opening day of what they are hoping will be their breakthrough season after the broadcasters’ website and app struggled to cope with the demand for coverage of Sunday’s Community Shield between Arsenal and Chelsea.
BT, whose £350m investment in exclusive rights to the Champions League and Europa League for the coming season has upped the stakes in their rivalry with Sky, had offered live streaming of the game online and on their app.
However, as the match at Wembley between last season’s Premier League champions and FA Cup winners kicked off some disgruntled would-be viewers took to Twitter to voice their dissatisfaction.
“I thought @btsport would have sorted their online capacity out for the season start but, as usual, the app is down. Thanks for nothing,” read one tweet. “First competitive game of the year and the BT sport app can’t handle it, superb,” read another.
BT Sport responded and tweetedback: “Sorry if you’re having problems watching BT Sport on App or online. Please try again, it may take longer than usual. Thanks for your patience.”
A BT Sport spokesman said: “There were a few problems reported and it was taking a little longer than usual to connect. Obviously we apologise to the small number of people who were affected.”
BT Sport will be broadcasting the opening game of the 2015-16 Premier League season on Saturday, when Manchester United entertain Tottenham at Old Trafford.
