Aldo
24-10-2011, 11:37 AM
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB could lose its exclusive live coverage of Premier League football to the Arab TV channel Al Jazeera.
Senior figures within Al Jazeera, which is owned by the Qatari royal family, are contemplating a bid for the rights when they are put out to tender next year.
The move would be a serious blow to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV service which is heavily dependent on the revenues it earns from the millions of subscribers who tune into its exclusive football coverage.
Qatar’s ruling elite, which can draw on the country’s vast oil revenues, is desperate to bolster support for last year’s successful, but highly controversial, bid to stage the 2022 World Cup.
A source said: ‘There is definitely a sense that Al Jazeera is looking at acquiring Premier League rights. Of course, they have the money to outbid Sky and billions is not a problem. But they also have the motivation because of all the scepticism that has greeted its successful bid for the World Cup.
‘There is a sense that they need to evolve Qatar’s image as a place that gets football and that’s involved in football.’
The disclosure that the Arab broadcaster is contemplating a bid is another setback for the Murdoch business empire, which is still reeling from the fallout of the telephone hacking row.
The Australian-born tycoon has never made any secret of the importance of the Premier League to the channel and its 11 million UK subscribers. He once described the coverage as the ‘battering ram’ that would get the station into British homes.
Al Jazeera has already established itself as a major player in the market for televised sports. In the summer it bought some of the domestic rights to screen matches from France’s top division, Ligue 1.
Sky and the American broadcaster ESPN currently share UK pay-for-view coverage following the £1.78 billion deal for the rights to cover matches between 2010 and 2013. Sky holds five of the six 23-game packages.
Qatar’s interest in football has mushroomed since last December when it won the right to stage the 2022 finals. Some purists were angered by the decision to award the event to a nation with so little interest in football. There were also claims that the country’s hot temperatures could even pose a health and safety risk to players.
But since then Qatar has become the shirt sponsors of Spain’s best club, Barcelona, and a Qatari investment firm has bought one of France’s most famous clubs, Paris St Germain.
Al Jazeera has already established itself as a major player in the market for televised sports.
In the summer it bought some of the domestic rights to screen matches from France’s top division, Ligue 1.
The broadcaster also owns regional TV rights for the next three World Cups and to the Champions League, with the BBC’s Gary Lineker fronting their coverage.
The move could be a set-back for Rupert Murdoch as Al Jazeera is owned by the Qatari royal family and money is not an issue for them
Observers believe the channel’s immediate priority will be to bid for the exclusive Middle East and North Africa rights to the UK Premier League, which is currently held by the Abu Dhabi Media Company. A bid for the UK rights may follow that.
No final decision on whether to bid will be made until the Premier League has decided how to package its UK rights in the light of the legal challenge from Portsmouth publican Karen Murphy.
Last month the European Court of Justice ruled that Mrs Murphy was not breaking the law when she used a Greek decoder to access Greek footage of the Premier League games.
She was paying £118 a month for the coverage which would have cost her £480 with Sky.
The Premier League may yet sell its 2013-16 rights within Europe on a pan-continent basis, not country by country as now. A multi-billion-pound future bid is well within Qatar’s capabilities and is believed to be more likely if the pan-European model is adopted rather than the status quo.
Osama Saeed, the head of media and international relations at Al Jazeera, last night declined to comment on ‘that kind of speculation’.
Senior figures within Al Jazeera, which is owned by the Qatari royal family, are contemplating a bid for the rights when they are put out to tender next year.
The move would be a serious blow to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV service which is heavily dependent on the revenues it earns from the millions of subscribers who tune into its exclusive football coverage.
Qatar’s ruling elite, which can draw on the country’s vast oil revenues, is desperate to bolster support for last year’s successful, but highly controversial, bid to stage the 2022 World Cup.
A source said: ‘There is definitely a sense that Al Jazeera is looking at acquiring Premier League rights. Of course, they have the money to outbid Sky and billions is not a problem. But they also have the motivation because of all the scepticism that has greeted its successful bid for the World Cup.
‘There is a sense that they need to evolve Qatar’s image as a place that gets football and that’s involved in football.’
The disclosure that the Arab broadcaster is contemplating a bid is another setback for the Murdoch business empire, which is still reeling from the fallout of the telephone hacking row.
The Australian-born tycoon has never made any secret of the importance of the Premier League to the channel and its 11 million UK subscribers. He once described the coverage as the ‘battering ram’ that would get the station into British homes.
Al Jazeera has already established itself as a major player in the market for televised sports. In the summer it bought some of the domestic rights to screen matches from France’s top division, Ligue 1.
Sky and the American broadcaster ESPN currently share UK pay-for-view coverage following the £1.78 billion deal for the rights to cover matches between 2010 and 2013. Sky holds five of the six 23-game packages.
Qatar’s interest in football has mushroomed since last December when it won the right to stage the 2022 finals. Some purists were angered by the decision to award the event to a nation with so little interest in football. There were also claims that the country’s hot temperatures could even pose a health and safety risk to players.
But since then Qatar has become the shirt sponsors of Spain’s best club, Barcelona, and a Qatari investment firm has bought one of France’s most famous clubs, Paris St Germain.
Al Jazeera has already established itself as a major player in the market for televised sports.
In the summer it bought some of the domestic rights to screen matches from France’s top division, Ligue 1.
The broadcaster also owns regional TV rights for the next three World Cups and to the Champions League, with the BBC’s Gary Lineker fronting their coverage.
The move could be a set-back for Rupert Murdoch as Al Jazeera is owned by the Qatari royal family and money is not an issue for them
Observers believe the channel’s immediate priority will be to bid for the exclusive Middle East and North Africa rights to the UK Premier League, which is currently held by the Abu Dhabi Media Company. A bid for the UK rights may follow that.
No final decision on whether to bid will be made until the Premier League has decided how to package its UK rights in the light of the legal challenge from Portsmouth publican Karen Murphy.
Last month the European Court of Justice ruled that Mrs Murphy was not breaking the law when she used a Greek decoder to access Greek footage of the Premier League games.
She was paying £118 a month for the coverage which would have cost her £480 with Sky.
The Premier League may yet sell its 2013-16 rights within Europe on a pan-continent basis, not country by country as now. A multi-billion-pound future bid is well within Qatar’s capabilities and is believed to be more likely if the pan-European model is adopted rather than the status quo.
Osama Saeed, the head of media and international relations at Al Jazeera, last night declined to comment on ‘that kind of speculation’.