Blog: BT Sport

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Watch Together: BT Sport adapts to lockdown, offering synchronised group streaming

Alistair Taylor

4 Feb 2021

BT Sport

telco

The pandemic-enforced prohibition of fans in attendance at sporting events has weakened the viewing spectacle, forcing rights holders and operators to experiment with the viewing experience. The NHL pioneered...

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English Premiership Rugby gets set for a digital shake-up

Alistair Taylor

17 Dec 2020

English Premiership Rugby

Amazon

tech major

Tech major Amazon is reportedly looking to add to its burgeoning sports right portfolio, targeting the domestic broadcast rights for English Premiership Rugby. London Irish owner, Mick Crossan, confirmed...

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The Premier League going pay-per-view means a sucker-punch for sports fans

Alistair Taylor

15 Oct 2020

English Premier League

EPL

pay per view

English Premier League (EPL) clubs have agreed an ‘interim solution’ to allow fans to continue watching their teams live. EPL fixtures not selected for broadcast in October will be available to fans...

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European Professional Club Rugby goes OTT, pressing business over the needs of fans

Alistair Taylor

23 Sep 2020

EPCR

European Professional Club Rugby

OTT

Last Friday , European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup’s governing body announced the launch of its global over-the-top (OTT) streaming...

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Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

LiveScore

OTT

Streaming insurgent LiveScore launched its first ever over-the-top (OTT), ad-supported direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming proposition in the UK back in June, harbouring a similar rights portfolio to that...

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DAZN’s belated UK launch: Can it avoid Eleven Sports’ 'mistake’?

Alistair Taylor

24 Jul 2020

Video

Sports

Media & Marketing

DAZN, the anointed ‘Netflix of Sport’, has announced plans to resume launching its services globally via a beta service covering boxing bouts In July and August, for users who have registered their...

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Reach for the win: BT Sport to air UEFA Champions League final on YouTube

Alistair Taylor

23 Jul 2020

Video

Sports

Media & Marketing

UK pay-TV incumbent BT Sport has announced it will air this year’s (COVID-delayed) UEFA Champions League (UCL) final free-to-air (FTA) on Google-owned YouTube. YouTube’s head of sport in EMEA, Tomos...

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Innovation via Free-to-air Highlights Missed Opportunity to date for the EPL

Alistair Taylor

24 Jun 2020

Sports

live sport

Sporting rights

Following live sports’ hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the English Premier League (EPL) saw two of the top three most-watched matches in league history occur last weekend. The previous record...

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Can BT Lay the Smackdown on Its Rivals?

Alistair Taylor

3 Jan 2020

addressable audience

broadcast

This Saturday at 1am GMT BT will debut its live broadcast for WWE Smackdown, having acquired the exclusive rights from long-term UK broadcaster Sky in June 2019 . This signalled the end of Sky’s tenure...

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BT Sport’s Key Ingredient for Competing in an Increasingly Saturated Landscape

Alistair Taylor

22 Nov 2019

American football

basketball

broadcast audience

The strategic dilemma as to whether rights holders should seek revenue over reach when allocating domestic rights is inevitably impacted by how dependent services are on premium rights for securing subscriber...

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Mediapro Offers Eleven Sports a UK Lifeline!

Alistair Taylor

21 Mar 2019

ad-supported model

BT Sport

carriage partnerships

Streaming service Eleven Sports will now have to table a new offer to maintain its UK La Liga rights, as Mediapro (the agency selling La Liga’s international rights) decides to return La Liga to the...

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Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Allsvenskan

altice

Amazon Fire Stick

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven...

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Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

addressable audience

BT Sport

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close...

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Sky and BT announce long term partnership for cross-supply of content

Alistair Taylor

2 Nov 2018

addressable audience

Amazon Prime

Attention economy

British broadcasters Sky and BT confirmed this week a long-term extension and expansion to an overall content cross-supply deal. Following the initial agreement signed in the UK last December , the partnership...

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