By John Considine
Less than two weeks ago, it was announced that the BBC had secured the rights to broadcast highlights of the Premier League for £204 million. Less than 24 hours ago, it was announced the rights to live Premier League games went to SKY and BT for over £5.163 billion. For the purposes of clarity, it is worth repeating those two monetary amounts. One is £204 million and the other is £5.163 billion. Or we could say £0.204 billion and £5.163 billion. It is starting to sound like dialogue from an Austin Powers movie. We can stretch the similarities a bit further. In one of the movies, Dr. Evil was originally frozen when the BBC ruled the airwaves. Now it is being out bid for everything from football to golf.
The comparison is obviously unfair. There is virtually no comparison between the value of broadcast rights to live sport and those for deferred coverage. However, the difference in the numbers demonstrates that public sector broadcasters are no longer players in the market for premium sports content. On balance, and wearing my economist-hat, this is probably for the best. Why should taxes be used to fund the acquisition of sports rights? EU member state governments have the power designate major sporting events for broadcast on more widely received broadcasters. The interests of the particular sport should be protected by those selling the rights and, therefore, establishing viewing numbers. Whether, or not, there are broader public benefits attached to sport can be argued. Rather than make these arguments myself, I refer anybody reading this post to an excellent piece by Paul Rouse (here) on an example from Ireland.
The comparison is obviously unfair. There is virtually no comparison between the value of broadcast rights to live sport and those for deferred coverage. However, the difference in the numbers demonstrates that public sector broadcasters are no longer players in the market for premium sports content. On balance, and wearing my economist-hat, this is probably for the best. Why should taxes be used to fund the acquisition of sports rights? EU member state governments have the power designate major sporting events for broadcast on more widely received broadcasters. The interests of the particular sport should be protected by those selling the rights and, therefore, establishing viewing numbers. Whether, or not, there are broader public benefits attached to sport can be argued. Rather than make these arguments myself, I refer anybody reading this post to an excellent piece by Paul Rouse (here) on an example from Ireland.
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