In these troubled times how often do we hear the phrase "lack of confidence" where finance is concerned? Well, today's big story is that Sky has bucked the current doom laden news trend by retaining its current Premier League broadcast rights by winning four of the available six packages on offer. It's believed that Sky's bid was in excess of £1.3 billion. The existing Premier League deal runs out in 2010, as things stand Sky have the right to broadcast 92 out of the available 138 games.
Following Tuesday night's announcement that Sky had made a clean sweep of the first round of bidding, a second round of bidding will take place between the competing broadcasters which are thought to include Sky, Setanta and ESPN. Under current EU legislation Sky can compete to win one of two remaining packages on offer.
It would be a shame to see Setanta aka "Tinker telly" bite the dust after making such a good start, which is unlikely, but it cannot be ruled out.
Whatever happens in the next round of bidding the arrival of another broadcaster has made it more expensive for armchair fans - that's the price the fans have to pay for competition, with that said watching the match live on TV remains by far the cheapest option, but it's a poor second when compared to the real thing.
I doubt it to be honest. Overseas Premier League rights are, as far as I know, bundled in a separate agreement and so they are not subject to who holds the UK broadcast rights...
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