Originally Posted by casinoman13:
“would the Prem League really be happy to offer Sky what they already have even if BT offer a substantial amount more than what Sky are?”
As referred to in post 5316, it's almost certain that the PL could not legally do this.
Under the 2007/13 agreement between the PL and the EC the PL had to award every individual package to the highest bidder for that package (the only exception being where it would mean any one bidder winning more than the maximum number of packages).
The PL has already stated that the 2013/16 auction was conducted on a similar basis.
And it is almost certain that the same will apply for 2016/19.
Worth remembering at this point VM's complaint to OFCOM re the process for selling PL rights - in the light of that it's incredibly unlikely such a condition will not apply again next time.
NB. I guess some people may try and argue that the PL could still "secretly" favour Sky by ordering another round of bidding if Sky does not bid highest. That is true - but the point is that Sky would still have to outbid BT on a particular bidding round to be awarded rights.
A few broader points:
- I see no reason for the PL to favour Sky over BT - the PL wants to maximise revenues and they are both companies who will do a good job televising games etc. The PL isn't going to favour Sky "out of the kindness of its heart". The PL will do what is best for the PL.
- Notwithstanding the above paragraph, the PL wants strong competition going forward so it is in its interests to keep both Sky and BT "healthy". However that can be achieved by setting a maximum number of games any one company can win.
- If there was a "stich-up" then there would be no incentive for Sky and BT to bid aggressively against each other - ie if they just put in bids with a nod and a wink for
different agreed packages then they could both potentially bid far lower than was otherwise the case if they were genuinely competing against each other (though they would be taking a risk that someone else could come out of the blue to outbid them both).