Sky Sports has secured six long-term rights agreements across six different sports including the British & Irish Lions, Super League rugby, England overseas cricket, Scottish football, speedway and sports entertainment leader, WWE. The deals come on the back of audience growth. In the last six months of '13, Sky Sports enjoyed its highest share of viewing in six years, including increased audiences for live Premier League football and its biggest-ever audience for rugby union. The new rights announced comprise:
- Lions Rugby -- Live coverage of the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand, including every Test match against the All Blacks.
- Super League -- An exclusive five-year deal beginning in '17.
- England Cricket -- A seven-year deal for live cricket from New Zealand, including two England winter tours in '18 and '20.
- Scottish Football -- A four-year deal with the Scottish FA beginning next season for the Scottish Cup, int'l friendlies and Scottish FA Youth Cup.
- Speedway -- At least five more years of Elite League speedway starting this April, offering Sky Sports viewers live coverage of 25 meetings a season.
- WWE -- A five-year deal from '15 offering more than 600 hours of content a year from the worldwide leader in sports entertainment including weekly programming and 12 special pay-per-view events a year (Sky).
HBO INCLUDED: In London, Gideon Spanier reported Sky also unveiled a £275M ($453M) five-year programming deal with hit U.S. drama channel HBO, as Sky said it had seen “explosive growth” in its on-demand TV service. Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch "hailed the HBO deal." Sky viewers will still get access to programs such as "Girls" and "Veep," with Sky and HBO co-producing original drama for the first time. Darroch: "HBO is synonymous with must-see TV" (
EVENING STANDARD, 1/30).
PREMIER QUESTION: The PA reported with Sky pledging to once more screen matches from the Championship beginning in '15, it also "puts a question mark over the role of Premier Sports, whose deal to televise the second tier of the professional game runs out this year." The announcemnt comes just a week after a new structure for the domestic game "was ratified by the Rugby Football League's board of directors" (PA, 1/30).
RFL TRIUMPH: In London, Andy Wilson wrote on the GUARDIAN's Talking Sport blog that the terms have not been announced but the Rugby Football League referred to its "transformational impact," which can be interpreted as a major increase on the existing deal running until '16. There is "also likely to be a parachute payment to the two clubs who are relegated from the Super League" this season to produce two tiers of 12 from '15, although that is "one of many details still to be hammered out." The deal "represents the latest in a series of triumphs" for RFL CEO Nigel Wood, who has "been criticised by a group of Super League clubs led by Wigan for the governing body's failure to capitalise on the game's commercial potential" (GUARDIAN, 1/30). Wood: "The association with Sky Sports has enabled rugby league to realize many of its ambitions over the last two decades and this new contract will allow the whole sport to grow still further as we enter an exciting chapter in our history" (Sky). In Yorkshire, Peter Smith reported in addition to a new contract from '17 to '21, the RFL "has agreed a number of changes to the current deal with Sky Sports that runs to the end of the 2016 season." This includes regular live action from the Kingstone Press Championship in '15 and "additional coverage" of Catalan Dragons home games from '14 (YORKSHIRE EVENING POST, 1/30).
SCOTTISH FA, WWE IN ON DEAL: The Scotland DAILY RECORD reported the Scottish FA's agreement gives Sky live rights to the Scottish Cup, exclusive live rights to Scotland home int'l challenge matches and rights to cover the Youth Cup until the end of the '17-18 season in the U.K. and Republic of Ireland (DAILY RECORD, 1/30). In L.A., George Szalai reported the WWE, whose second-largest market is the U.K., will be broadcast to more than 15.5 million homes in the U.K. Under the deal, Sky will also add WWE Main Event to its lineup. Financial details were not disclosed, but sources said it was "worth three times" the original five-year deal. When the previous deal was announced, "it was reported to be WWE's biggest-ever int'l TV rights deal at the time" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/30).
