BT has won the exclusive live broadcast rights to all 350 matches from both the Champions League and UEFA Europa League tournaments. The rights run for three seasons from 2015/2016. Both finals will be offered free on BT Sport, along with matches from earlier rounds. This is the first time a single UK broadcaster has won the exclusive live rights to all matches from both tournaments. BT has agreed to pay around GBP 299 million a season for the rights, and insists it can pay this without changing its current financial outlook. BT will pay a deposit of around GBP 60 million in November followed by six-monthly instalments from July 2015.
BT Group CEO Gavin Patterson defended the GBP 900 million price tag, despite rivals British Sky Broadcasting and ITV claiming that it has paid 'over the odds' for the rights, reports The Telegraph newspaper. According to a source familiar with the process, BT bid almost twice as much as Sky, which withdrew after the first round of bidding after seeing BT's offer. Sky and ITV currently pay GBP 240 million and GBP 155 million for their Champions Leagues rights, and both insist that the rights are not worth as much as BT has paid. They are believed to have offered GBP 500 million and GBP 220 million respectively.
