Rumors have been circulating that a major U.S. tech company could enter the bidding war for Premier League rights, according to Jessica Goodfellow of THE DRUM. Enders Analysis believes that such rumors "have been orchestrated" by the competition organizers to “sow confusion and fear” and raise the price of the bids, when in reality none of the four major internet companies are in a position -- or willing to -- compete with Sky and BT. What it "comes down to is money." Over £2B ($2.6B) has been added to the price tag of premium sports rights in the U.K. "as a direct result of BT’s entry into sports broadcasting" in '13. The price is "expected to continue to rise" as competition between BT and Sky "heats up." An analyst at investment bank Citi said that the cost of Premier League rights is expected to rise between 40% and 45% in the upcoming auction for the three seasons starting '19-20, an increase of £600M ($787.7M) a year for the period. It is "not that either of the four major tech companies are short of money." Netflix and Amazon have committed $6B and $4.5B to content this year, Facebook’s revenues were $27.6B last year and Google parent company Alphabet’s were $89.5B. But the Premier League has not "proven as lucrative as it would have bidders imagine." Neither BT nor Sky are profitable pay-TV broadcasters, according to Enders' estimations. While sports accounted for 66% of total multichannel content spend, "it accounted for just 8% share of total multichannel viewing," the research company said. Enders Analysis Founder & CEO Claire Enders said, "To my mind, all the talk from the Premier League is designed to sow confusion and fear, and to act like their product has magical and mystical properties, which it does not" (THE DRUM, 10/27).
