Sky Sports wins live Premier League rights

Sky Sports wins live Premier League rights

Sky has strengthened its position as the home of sport and unrivalled choice for sports fans by winning the UK rights to 126 live Premier League matches a season from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

In a successful outcome to the Premier League's tender process, Sky Sports was awarded five packs of live rights. Sky will pay £1,392 million per annum for each of the three years of the new agreement, representing an 83% increase over the cost of the existing contract.

The new deal ensures that Sky Sports will be the only place to follow the biggest matches and stories throughout the Premier League season. Viewers will be able to rely on Sky Sports to bring them three times as many live matches as any other broadcaster, including the best match picks and the most-watched slots in the schedule. By securing the rights to matches on Friday evenings for the first time, Sky Sports will also bring viewers an entirely new way to start the weekend with live Premier League football.

The expanded schedule of live Premier League matches will be a key part of the unrivalled breadth of coverage offered by Sky Sports across seven channels. After 25 rights deals in 2014, and a new agreement for live rights to The Open golf championship from 2017, Sky has secured long-term visibility over its market-leading rights portfolio and future costs.

The key points of the new Premier League rights deal include:

· More live matches than ever before, with 126 fixtures a season versus 116 under the existing contract

· Live coverage on more days of the week, with matches on Friday evenings for the first time as well as Saturday afternoons, Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings

· The best match picks, including 26 first picks and 31 second picks, meaning that Sky Sports will offer more of the biggest matches

· Live coverage of every Premier League club at least four times a season

· Rights to offer live coverage across a range of platforms, including online and mobile

· Access to all 126 matches a season through the Sky Sports day pass and week pass on NOW TV

The new Premier League deal follows Sky's excellent start to the financial year. During the three months to 31 December 2014, Sky added new customers in the UK and Ireland at the highest rate in nine years and sold more than one million subscription products. Group revenue rose by 5% to more than £11 billion per annum and operating profit was up 16% at £675 million in the first half of the year.

The price paid per annum is around £330 million more than analysts' forecasts. Sky has a clear set of plans in place to fund the bid and deliver its financial plans in line with expectations. The company will work hard to minimise the impact of higher rights costs on customers, with the majority of the funding coming through substantial additional savings to be delivered by efficiency plans.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky's Group Chief Executive, said:

"This is a good result and confirms that Sky is the unrivalled choice for sports fans. We went into the Premier League auction with a clear objective and are pleased to have secured the rights that we wanted.

"Our strong performance across the board gives us financial strength and flexibility. We have a clear plan to absorb the cost of the new Premier League deal while delivering our financial plans."

Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, added:

"We are looking forward to bringing even more live Premier League football to viewers. Only Sky Sports will have the best match picks and the best slots so our viewers will be able to follow the biggest matches, the key head to heads and every club at least four times. No other broadcaster comes close.

"The best Premier League coverage is part of an unrivalled range of sport across our seven channels and digital platforms. This new deal follows our recent success in the rights market, ensuring Sky Sports will be the first choice for years to come."

For further information, please contact:

Media

Corporate Communications:

Alice Macandrew E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 7032 4256

Robin Tozer Tel: 020 7032 0620

Sports PR:

James Motley E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 7032 1446

Stuart Mawhinney E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 7032 4249

Analysts/Investors:

Lang Messer E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 7032 2657

Notes to editors

1) LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES:

Sky has been awarded the following packs:

Sky will show 116 live and exclusive Premier League matches next season (2015-16) in the final year of the existing Premier League rights agreement.

2) DEPTH AND BREADTH OF COVERAGE ON SKY SPORTS

Sky Sports' coverage of the most watched sports in the UK and Ireland includes:

Cricket

ICC cricket up to and including World Cup 2023

IPL cricket up to and including 2017 season

England tour of New Zealand up to and including 2020 tour

Rugby Union

RFU England Autumn Internationals up to and including 2019/20 season

Top 14 rugby union up to and including 2018/19 season

European Rugby up to and including 2017/18 season

British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand 2017

Tennis

ATP World Tour up to and including 2018 season

Formula 1

Every Formula 1 race, qualifying and practice session live up to and including 2018 season

Golf

Open Championship from 2017-2021

European Tour golf up to and including 2018 Ryder Cup

US Open golf up to and including 2019 Championships

Masters golf multi-year agreement

US PGA Tour golf up to and including 2021 Championships

Football

UEFA Euro 2016 and FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers

Football League up to and including 2017/18 season

SFA and SPFL Scottish football up to and including 2017/18 season

Eredivisie up to and including 2017/18 season

Other

NFL American Football up to and including Super Bowl in February 2020

Rugby Super League up to and including 2021 season

WWE all events up to and including 2019 schedule

PDC Darts up to and including Premier League 2018 season and World Championships 2017/18

Boxing from Matchroom up to and including 2016

GAA up to and including 2016 season

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company. The group serves 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate