Sky/ESPN/BT Sport

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

So...It will cost me £12 per month on top of my sky subscription if I sign up before July 31st and I can watch it through my Sky hd box?

I don't want bt broadband..I am quite happy with Sky's broadband.

In that case, yes.

The interesting thing will be what happens over the next few years. BT aren't ESPN, they're enormous and a real threat to Sky. They've hoovered up the rugby rights, got a prime package for football (and will go for more next time), the ECB are extremely excited about their arrival for cricket (pound signs are flashing ugh), so it's going to get quite spicy.

I didn't get ESPN and I wont be getting this..I will just watch it through my normal streaming site online. They only have 38 games.No Champs league,league cup (not sure about FA Cup) No way will they overtake Sky.I begrudge paying sky but if you know how to play the system then you can always get the deal on Sky for half price for 6-12 months.
I am currently paying £2 per month for my line rental until December. I will then be contacting them again and threatening to leave.

 

[Henkeman]

So...It will cost me £12 per month on top of my sky subscription if I sign up before July 31st and I can watch it through my Sky hd box?

I don't want bt broadband..I am quite happy with Sky's broadband.

In that case, yes.

The interesting thing will be what happens over the next few years. BT aren't ESPN, they're enormous and a real threat to Sky. They've hoovered up the rugby rights, got a prime package for football (and will go for more next time), the ECB are extremely excited about their arrival for cricket (pound signs are flashing ugh), so it's going to get quite spicy.

I didn't get ESPN and I wont be getting this..I will just watch it through my normal streaming site online. They only have 38 games.No Champs league,league cup (not sure about FA Cup) No way will they overtake Sky.I begrudge paying sky but if you know how to play the system then you can always get the deal on Sky for half price for 6-12 months.
I am currently paying £2 per month for my line rental until December. I will then be contacting them again and threatening to leave.

Sure, I get that as things stand, but my point is that it won't be just 38 games and FA Cup/Europa League in future. As I say, this isn't ESPN, who relied on Sky to carry their channel. BT have an alternative platform for distribution, are a bigger and richer company than Sky and a vast budget for this kind of thing. They'll go for the rights of every major sporting event there is over the next few years. And then you might get to the tipping point.

 

[without a dream]

BT have 'first picks' don't they? So they might only have 30 odd games but they'll all be the top ones, you won't be suffering through Stoke-Palace

 

[Stuuuuuu]

Can you show me where you can get Sky (including the sports channels) for £16 per month?

I think he means £16 a month on top of your basic sky HD package

So it's not £16 then; it's more like £60 or something.

 

[bigbluething]

There will be no espn on Sky from 31/7/13, BT sport starts on 1/8/13. ESPN has lost all rights to Uk football to BT sport (plus some egg chasing). 13.00 to sky customers, free to BT internet customers. you also have to pay extra to have it in HD, but if you do it ties you in to a 12 month contract.

 

[Stuuuuuu]

You get ESPN included with BT Sport.

BT have 'first picks' don't they? So they might only have 30 odd games but they'll all be the top ones, you won't be suffering through Stoke-Palace

BT have 38 games, 18 of which are 'top picks,' whatever that means.

 

[unexpected item]

Statement from Virgin about plans to host BT Sport

Latest News - May 2013
BT Sport will be launching this summer with coverage of Barclays Premier League matches, football from Italy, France and Brazil and Aviva Premiership rugby. Plus, there's also an ESPN branded channel with the latest in US sports and UFC.

You might have also heard that the ESPN channel will be part of the BT Sport package. But how does that affect you as a Virgin Media customer? Well, the transfer won’t be completed until the end of July, so it doesn’t affect you right now. You’ll still get all the ESPN channels you enjoy until the end of the current football season. Game on.

We’re always striving to bring you the best sporting events and competitions from around the world and we’re talking to BT about how we can make the forthcoming BT Sport package available to you. So we’ll keep you up to date as soon as we have any developments.

 

[Sir peace frog]

right,ive got all the sky channels with virgin everything(did a deal to get 3 boxes)
so my espn stops soon

can i pay extra to virgin to get bt sports ........y/n


in other words all i need to do if i want to watch bt games is tap a button,not install another fucking wired pile of shit. y/n

thanks in advance a thicky

 

[Matty]

In that case, yes.

The interesting thing will be what happens over the next few years. BT aren't ESPN, they're enormous and a real threat to Sky. They've hoovered up the rugby rights, got a prime package for football (and will go for more next time), the ECB are extremely excited about their arrival for cricket (pound signs are flashing ugh), so it's going to get quite spicy.

I didn't get ESPN and I wont be getting this..I will just watch it through my normal streaming site online. They only have 38 games.No Champs league,league cup (not sure about FA Cup) No way will they overtake Sky.I begrudge paying sky but if you know how to play the system then you can always get the deal on Sky for half price for 6-12 months.
I am currently paying £2 per month for my line rental until December. I will then be contacting them again and threatening to leave.

Sure, I get that as things stand, but my point is that it won't be just 38 games and FA Cup/Europa League in future. As I say, this isn't ESPN, who relied on Sky to carry their channel. BT have an alternative platform for distribution, are a bigger and richer company than Sky and a vast budget for this kind of thing. They'll go for the rights of every major sporting event there is over the next few years. And then you might get to the tipping point.

If what you're saying is true then it'll just mean more expense to your average football fan. At present you can pay for Sky and then go to the pub/stream the occasional game on ESPN (and next season on BT). However if the split of games is closer to 50/50 then that's not as easy to do. Sky simply won't be dropping their fees, so there will be no saving there, and BT will have to increase their fees in order to cover the costs od the extra sport they've bid for. So, due to Sky being a "monopoly" and not being allowed to win ALL the football the consumer now has to pay more money to watch the same football via 2 different providers. Exceptional work.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

I didn't get ESPN and I wont be getting this..I will just watch it through my normal streaming site online. They only have 38 games.No Champs league,league cup (not sure about FA Cup) No way will they overtake Sky.I begrudge paying sky but if you know how to play the system then you can always get the deal on Sky for half price for 6-12 months.
I am currently paying £2 per month for my line rental until December. I will then be contacting them again and threatening to leave.

Sure, I get that as things stand, but my point is that it won't be just 38 games and FA Cup/Europa League in future. As I say, this isn't ESPN, who relied on Sky to carry their channel. BT have an alternative platform for distribution, are a bigger and richer company than Sky and a vast budget for this kind of thing. They'll go for the rights of every major sporting event there is over the next few years. And then you might get to the tipping point.

If what you're saying is true then it'll just mean more expense to your average football fan. At present you can pay for Sky and then go to the pub/stream the occasional game on ESPN (and next season on BT). However if the split of games is closer to 50/50 then that's not as easy to do. Sky simply won't be dropping their fees, so there will be no saving there, and BT will have to increase their fees in order to cover the costs od the extra sport they've bid for. So, due to Sky being a "monopoly" and not being allowed to win ALL the football the consumer now has to pay more money to watch the same football via 2 different providers. Exceptional work.

Also forgetting Sky supply over 10 million people with not only sports but a raft of tv channels which BT would simply have to bankrupt themselves to compete with. Virgin was supposed to end Sky dominance 15 years ago. Setanta was going to win all the sports and ESPN was seen as a proper competitor. All have gone by the wayside and ESPN is a multi billion dollar subsidiary of Disney. BT can huff and puff all they like more people will join Sky than BT over the next 3 years