BT and Sky agree content sharing deal ahead of bidding rights

A landmark new deal has been signed between Sky and BT for the two firms to be able to sell channels on both platforms.

As part of the new deal, the BT Sport channels, which provide coverage of UEFA Champions League and Premier League football will be supplied to Sky, as well as this, BT will be able to sell Sky Sports to its customers via the Sky Now TV package.

The deal comes ahead of next February’s Premier League rights auction, where it’s widely anticipated that both Amazon and Facebook are looking to bolster their portfolios with coverage of England’s top flight.

BT first purchased the rights to the Champions League in 2012, since then it has spent a staggering £3.5bn on football coverage.

Sky boss Jeremy Darroch said: “This is great news for Sky customers who will be able to access all matches on Sky and BT channels from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Europa League directly with a single Sky TV subscription.”

Currently, Sky customers can only through BT subscription, however the new services will become available to BT and Sky customers from early 2019.

The deal also comes as it was agreed that within the next Premier League broadcasting deal the number of games shown live on TV will increase from 168 to at least 200 games, with the the league including a Saturday night football.

The expansion means that more than 50% of the League’s games will be broadcast live on English television.

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Source: SBC News