Scottish Teams sign multi million pound deal with BT

errlloyd

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/bt-sport-find-novel-way-past-sky-sports-ban-1.1478421

BT Sport has found a way past Sky Sports ban on screening its rival broadcaster’s adverts after signing a four-year shirt sponsorship deal with two of the teams Sky has signed up to televise this season.
Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby have agreed a “substantial multi-million pound” deal that will see both clubs sport BT’s logo on their shirts.
The Scottish sides complete in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup, competitions which are to be screened live next year by Sky.
The announcement of the deal follows an Ofcom ruling last month which rejected BT’s complaints over Sky’s refusal to promote its new rivals on its own channels.
BT will launch three channels later this week, broadcasting live football from the Barclays Premier League in England and Scotland’s newly-formed Scottish Premiership.
Its rugby content includes Aviva Premiership matches and France’s Top 14 — but it will not screen games involving the two sides it has just signed up to sponsor.
However, Marc Watson, chief executive of TV for BT Retail, claims that could change in future.
When asked if the deal with Edinburgh and Glasgow was a ploy to get around Sky’s ban, he said: “When you are looking at a sponsorship arrangement, one of the things you look at is who is going to see your logo, your brand. The audience that follows Scottish rugby is an important audience for us to reach.
“The RaboDirect (PRO12) will be covered by Sky and other broadcasters too in the next few years and that broadcaster exposure is one of the elements — but not the only one — in what is quite a broad deal with Scottish Rugby.
“We launch three channels later this week and it’s a major strategic objective of the company to establish those channels and to make them a success. As we are launching those channels into the marketplace it seems an obvious thing to use this deal to help promote those channels.
“This is a sponsorship deal, not a broadcasting deal. We will look in the future at all opportunities to broadcast sports as they come up and if an opportunity comes up to broadcast (the Scottish) rugby teams then of course we will look at it.
“For the rugby fan, we believe we (already) have a lot that is attractive and that is appealing.”
Mark Dodson, chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union — which owns both Edinburgh and Glasgow — hinted the deal would see extra money be made available to strengthen both squads.
He said: “This is the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal we have ever signed — by some margin. It dwarfs any deal we have signed in the past.
“We will always be looking for the best players possible. If that means the player budget rises as a consequence, that is what will happen.
“I’ve given both coaches (Gregor Townsend and Stevie Scott) the reassurance that if there is a top-class player out there that they want, who wants to come to Scotland, we will fund it.”

This is a very interesting development. In some ways it is great to see that there is a little competition for the broadcasting rights and with some big boys in a bidding war money will likely begin to stream down to the teams.

To be fair, Edinburgh and Glasgow are possibly the teams that could most do with a bit of cash right now.

thomond2006

hahaha that's fantastic trolling by BT!

In terms of money for Edinburgh and Glasgow, both clubs actually spent quite a lot on recruitment last summer but have really scaled back this year.

Their transfers:

Edinburgh
IN: Alasdair Dickinson (prop, Sale), Aleki Lutui (hooker, Worcester), Jack Cuthbert (centre, Bath), Nikki Walker (winger, Worcester)
OUT:Andy Titterell (hooker, London Welsh), Netani Talei (flanker, Dragons), Richie Rees (scrum-half, Dragons), Tommaso Allan (fly-half, Perpignan), James King (fly-half), Sep Visser (winger), Mike Penn (winger, Moseley)

Glasgow
IN: Richie Vernon (flanker, Sale)
OUT: Ofa Fainga'anuku (prop, Worcester), Nick Campbell (lock, Jersey), John Barclay (flanker, Scarlets), Angus McDonald (flanker), Graeme Morrison (centre), Taylor Paris (winger, Agen), Rory Lamont (fullback)

If this deal means Glasgow can sign a couple more HEC quality players then they could really threaten over the years to come, their current back three as a combination is arguably the best in the league. Edinburgh badly need an overhaul after Bradley's demise, their raft of signings last year produced nothing.

It's good news for the league in general, the stronger our opponents are the better (to an extent!). It makes the season more exciting.

bilston

errlloyd wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/bt-sport-find-novel-way-past-sky-sports-ban-1.1478421




This is a very interesting development. In some ways it is great to see that there is a little competition for the broadcasting rights and with some big boys in a bidding war money will likely begin to stream down to the teams.

To be fair, Edinburgh and Glasgow are possibly the teams that could most do with a bit of cash right now.

I wonder whether BT could do for Rugby what Sky did for the Premier League back in 1992. It's not all good but one thing is for sure the players could be the big winners from all of this. They will want it and if the put the mega money forward the clubs and possibly the Unions will want it as well.

I think if BT are a success in the sporting rights world (unlike Setanta and ESPN) then we could find we are a step closer to a British and Irish league in the next five years.

molloyjh

errlloyd wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/bt-sport-find-novel-way-past-sky-sports-ban-1.1478421




This is a very interesting development. In some ways it is great to see that there is a little competition for the broadcasting rights and with some big boys in a bidding war money will likely begin to stream down to the teams.

To be fair, Edinburgh and Glasgow are possibly the teams that could most do with a bit of cash right now.

Wow. That's great news for Scottish rugby. However we don't know from that article how long the deal is for and it's something that is pretty likely to be unsustainable, i.e. will it be renewed for the same kind of value etc.

I'm not too keen on this idea of BT coming in and throwing money around the way they are though. For starters it looks at the moment like a real possibility that rugby fans will need multiple subscriptions to watch a single competition. I'd hate to see that spread into the Pro12. But secondly, and more importantly, with France using their deep pockets to attract in talent and now broadcasters flinging around big money we could be starting to see rugby become more and more like soccer. He who pays wins. I hope to God it doesn't go that way.

bilston

molloyjh wrote: »

Wow. That's great news for Scottish rugby. However we don't know from that article how long the deal is for and it's something that is pretty likely to be unsustainable, i.e. will it be renewed for the same kind of value etc.

I'm not too keen on this idea of BT coming in and throwing money around the way they are though. For starters it looks at the moment like a real possibility that rugby fans will need multiple subscriptions to watch a single competition. I'd hate to see that spread into the Pro12. But secondly, and more importantly, with France using their deep pockets to attract in talent and now broadcasters flinging around big money we could be starting to see rugby become more and more like soccer. He who pays wins. I hope to God it doesn't go that way.

That would be the worry. Including movies I fork out £60/€70 a month on Sky, I don't want to be adding another tenner on top of that for BT Sports, I'm happy enough to give BT Sports a miss for now, but if they get their hands on the HEC (or whatever it will be) and if rumours in the UK are correct that they are going in with a £1bn bid for the next Champions League rights then my hand may be forced!

CatFromHue

After what happened with the ITV Sport channel and Setanta England I'll believe BT Sport when it happens

irishbucsfan

CatFromHue wrote: »

After what happened with the ITV Sport channel and Setanta England I'll believe BT Sport when it happens

Its completely different to both of those. But we wont get into that.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

CatFromHue

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Its completely different to both of those. But we wont get into that.

Why not? Or do you want to continue critiquing jerseys ? :pac::pac:

irishbucsfan

CatFromHue wrote: »

Why not? Or do you want to continue critiquing jerseys ? :pac::pac:

Ok, BT have a presence in twice as many homes as Sky do. ITV and Setanta are completely insignificant in comparison to both companies.

Heroditas

So essentially BT are similar to UPC, Virgin, Sky, etc insofar as they provide. TV service, along with broadband and telephone?
I have to admit I must have been living in a cave for the last while because I was wondering how they were going to show the sports. I honestly thought they'd be streaming the games.
Never knew they had a set-up similar to the other providers!

Swiwi.

I'm glad for Scottish rugby. I well remember their past glories, and I would love to see Scotland seriously challenging for the 6N, top 8 spot in the IRB rankings etc. I'm hoping world rugby can eventually end up with 12 to 16 genuinely competitive teams, and Scotland should be part of that.

McCBrian

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Ok, BT have a presence in twice as many homes as Sky do. ITV and Setanta are completely insignificant in comparison to both companies.

Incorrect
http://recombu.com/digital/news/bt-vision-bt-youview-grow-slightly_M11901.html

"Despite the popularity of the sports channels, BT's own pay-TV service, BT Vision, won only 23,000 customers in the past three months, taking its base to 833,000 – a fraction of Sky's 10 million subscribers."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bt-draws-500000-ahead-of-tv-football-battle-with-sky-8732815.html

so BT Vision throw £1 Billion+ to gain subscribers for Football, AP, Tennis, WWF etc and garner 8000 accounts a month over a quarter, not looking too good at the moment

McCBrian

molloyjh wrote: »

Wow. That's great news for Scottish rugby. However we don't know from that article how long the deal is for and it's something that is pretty likely to be unsustainable, i.e. will it be renewed for the same kind of value etc.

I'm not too keen on this idea of BT coming in and throwing money around the way they are though. For starters it looks at the moment like a real possibility that rugby fans will need multiple subscriptions to watch a single competition. I'd hate to see that spread into the Pro12. But secondly, and more importantly, with France using their deep pockets to attract in talent and now broadcasters flinging around big money we could be starting to see rugby become more and more like soccer. He who pays wins. I hope to God it doesn't go that way.

4 year deal afaik

They have not paid vast amounts of money as the Warriors had no shirt sponsors and picked it up for peanuts as their previous sponsors a Glasgow call centre did not renew the contract when it ran out last April. Assume Aberdeen Asset Management or whoever sponsored Edinburgh ran out at the same time but not sure

McCBrian

I am on business in London at the moment and the strange thing is picked up an Evening Standard tonight.
Sky are advertising "We guarantee the best price for unlimited broadband and BT SPORT"
Followed by 4 pages later an advert from BT "BT is the ONLY place to get BT Sport & ESPN from next season" Thought ESPN was going?

So who has the exclusivity on BT Sport?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

irishbucsfan

McCBrian wrote: »

Incorrect
http://recombu.com/digital/news/bt-vision-bt-youview-grow-slightly_M11901.html

"Despite the popularity of the sports channels, BT's own pay-TV service, BT Vision, won only 23,000 customers in the past three months, taking its base to 833,000 – a fraction of Sky's 10 million subscribers."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bt-draws-500000-ahead-of-tv-football-battle-with-sky-8732815.html

so BT Vision throw £1 Billion+ to gain subscribers for Football, AP, Tennis, WWF etc and garner 8000 accounts a month over a quarter, not looking too good at the moment

I said BT, not BT Vision. BT Vision is a terrible service at the moment.

And they aren't pushing Vision at the moment really.

irishbucsfan

Heroditas wrote: »

So essentially BT are similar to UPC, Virgin, Sky, etc insofar as they provide. TV service, along with broadband and telephone?
I have to admit I must have been living in a cave for the last while because I was wondering how they were going to show the sports. I honestly thought they'd be streaming the games.
Never knew they had a set-up similar to the other providers!

Yep pretty much, although a much bigget company. They're quite lucky in that they're benefitting from a lot of government funding I believe and because of that they're cash rich. They have presence in home phone/tv/broadband and maybe even mobile soon. But the real money spinner is the connectivity, not the tv service. BT Vision is really poor, don't think they even offer multi-room. Its in dire need of a complete overhaul and I'd be very surprised if that's not in the pipeline.

molloyjh

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Yep pretty much, although a much bigget company. They're quite lucky in that they're benefitting from a lot of government funding I believe and because of that they're cash rich. They have presence in home phone/tv/broadband and maybe even mobile soon. But the real money spinner is the connectivity, not the tv service. BT Vision is really poor, don't think they even offer multi-room. Its in dire need of a complete overhaul and I'd be very surprised if that's not in the pipeline.

Where are BT getting all the money from to fund the phone/broadband network, buy the rights for these sports competitions (plus the cost of televising them), sponsor the Scots and potentially overhaul their TV offering (you would imagine they'd have to so that they could compete)? Surely that's an incredible investment in a very short period for any company?

irishbucsfan

molloyjh wrote: »

Where are BT getting all the money from to fund the phonend network, buy the rights for these sports competitions (plus the cost of televising them), sponsor the Scots and potentially overhaul their TV offering (you would imagine they'd have to so that they could compete)? Surely that's an incredible investment in a very short period for any company?

BT turn over something near £20 billion pounds. Much more than Sky, for example. Its a big investment but it's not surprising they're capable of matching Sky who they are far bigger than.

I think the fact media is crossing platforms in so many ways now means these big connectivity players are going to have to start crossing boundaries and pushing into each other's industries. So Sky bought O2's broadband service to move in on BTs turf and BT are buying tv rights to move in on Sky's turf.

I think there's a real question of who will buy out telefonica in the UK. And I don't think its hard to guess who the big players in those negotiations will be!

Edit: But as for the question: The economies of scale in connectivity are massive. Especially when consumers are so uneducated

seanm92

My worry about this is what it could mean for the future of the Heineken cup, as we've already seen the English sides have signed a deal with BT to cover European games, does this now mean the Scottish sides will also now be under pressure to follow suit?

icdg

molloyjh wrote: »

Where are BT getting all the money from to fund the phone/broadband network, buy the rights for these sports competitions (plus the cost of televising them), sponsor the Scots and potentially overhaul their TV offering (you would imagine they'd have to so that they could compete)? Surely that's an incredible investment in a very short period for any company?

They are the incumbent teleco in the UK and even where a lot of domestic customers are dropping landlines this is still a licence to print money in a market where cable has historically been very undeveloped (it only really got going in the late 1990s as opposed to the 1970s here). Even if you didn't want them for their telephone calls their telephone network was the only way to connect to the internet until recently for a large percentage of the British population.

seanm92 wrote: »

My worry about this is what it could mean for the future of the Heineken cup, as we've already seen the English sides have signed a deal with BT to cover European games, does this now mean the Scottish sides will also now be under pressure to follow suit?

More rather, the SRU may now be more willing to hear the Premiership Rugby case for its deal with BT Sport. It may have been a case of buying an ally. He who pays the piper usually calls the tune I'm afraid, but we shall see.