Live EPL matches are "set to invade British homes on Friday nights, as bidding for the rights to show the games and highlights kicks off between BT, Sky and others," according to Blitz, Mance & Thomas of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The EPL "is throwing an extra 14 matches into the three-year packages, taking the total number of live games per season to 168." It "has also launched the tender for the free-to-air highlights rights, which is likely to trigger a battle between the BBC and ITV." It "expects to complete the auction rights" for the '16-17 through '18-19 seasons by February (FINANCIAL TIMES, 12/12). The GUARDIAN's John Plunkett wrote Sky and BT "will go head-to-head for the rights but the cost of live games is likely to be pushed up further by interest from rival broadcasters such as Discovery" -- the U.S. media company that now owns Eurosport -- and Qatar-backed al-Jazeera. There "has also been speculation that technology companies such as Apple and Google-backed YouTube could bid for digital rights" (GUARDIAN.com, 12/12).
