There is no doubt money makes the sporting world go round, especially television money.
At the end of last week Britain’s new sports channel BT Sport just outbid Sky for the rights to the European Champions League from 2015, what did they pay? A cool GBP1billion!
This move means that ITV which for many years kept football alive in Britain now has no live coverage of the game from 2015, as they simply cannot compete with these figures.
UEFA’s decision to opt for BT Sport as a broadcast partner did not come as a shock to many as the subscription based channels appeared to be the preferred option when in France Al Jazeera owned beIN Sport were awarded exclusive rights.
To many these sums of money for one tournament seem hard to comprehend, but the Champions League is now one of the most watched sporting events in the world outstripping the World Cup and the Olympic Games, so to those in the television world it is money well spent.
