There used to be a time when football games went unnoticed because they were not televised. In England highlights of the First Division were only shown since Jimmy Hill revolutionized TV with his Match of the Day programme, while in Germany ‘Das Aktuelle Sportstudio’ at ZDF, the second terrestrial channel, broadcast the highlights of the first division since 1963. All that has changed in Germany when SAT.1, a private channel bought the rights for the highlights and started their ‘ran’ programme that had an audience in the studio and intended to liven up football presentation in German TV. Britain saw nothing short of a revolution when the Premier League was introduced and TV rights sold off to BSkyB.
With the current TV deal for the Premier League to expire in the summer there had been rumours that Apple and Google might enter the fray and bid for the live packages. These remained rumours. And yet it might show other sports new ways to open up markets for live broadcasts from major events. It is highly likely that Sky and ESPN will once more share the TV rights for England’s top division.
The usual suspects bidding again
Just to recap, Sky currently pay