The ileague :(

[Shady]

Apple want Premier League TV rights: Charles Sale | Mail Online

Computer giants Apple are showing interest in joining the billion-pound battle for the next set of live Premier League TV rights when the tender goes out before the end of the season.

The Premier League is seen as the type of premium content that will help establish Apple TV in the UK and boost iPad sales, while the iTunes subscription service infrastructure is already in place.

The involvement of Apple - and their great multimedia rivals Google are also expected to make similar soundings - would give the PL a hugely competitive market at a time when the price of other TV sports rights are in decline.

The three certain bidders will be Sky, who paid ?1.6billion for their current packages, ESPN, who say they are determined to buy more PL content, and Middle East network Al Jezeera, who also have the resources to break the Rupert Murdoch stranglehold on the Premier League.

In contrast the FA have had to accept a 30 per cent-plus drop in the price of a two-year FA Cup and England renewal with ITV. The ?42m-a-year deal has been delayed while talks took place over increasing the price for more England matches, but no definite extra dates have been agreed.



This is bad news if true..
if they do put in a bid, how weird will it feel rooting for murdoch to come out on top?

[sgerrard]

i hate that sky have had the rights for so long and manipulated football and the way its shown......massive propaganda spin put on many things in the game.

but apple?! are they the people to broadcast football in a more fair manner......think they might be out of their depth with this.

would be nice for the bbc to get some games again, no adverts and more impartial coverage/analysis...

[zee24]

I expect Al-Jazeera to give Sky the bigger head-ache then Apple. They have already acquired rights to Spanish, French and Italian leagues paying vast amounts and have just launched sports news channels across the middle east n north africa. They are also going to launch channels in France later this year. Since Qatar won the rights to hold the WC in 2022 they are doing so much to promote the game, they are buying clubs like Malaga and PSG and have ties with Al-Jazeera.

They have the money to rival anyone and can probably pay off the big people who make these decisons on who have the rights like they did with Blatter .

If Man Utd get bought out by the Qatari Royals or even if they by a stake in the club which they've been strongly linked with then there will be even more reason Al-Jazeera will want a slice of the PL pie.

[cablefreejunkie]

i hate that sky have had the rights for so long and manipulated football and the way its shown......massive propaganda spin put on many things in the game.

but apple?! are they the people to broadcast football in a more fair manner......think they might be out of their depth with this.

would be nice for the bbc to get some games again, no adverts and more impartial coverage/analysis...

the bbc just sold the rights to the most watched global sport on tv
formula 1
i doubt they will ever get saturday footy live as sky do
sky have ruined football in this country,,it s all about money and greed
not sure if apple would be the ones to sort it out

[sgerrard]

i wouldnt mind al jal frezi getting the rights their coverage on champions league is brilliant.

linekar, gullit, mcmanaman not a bad pundit line up either

better than neville, redknapp and that other dude?

[sgerrard]

the bbc just sold the rights to the most watched global sport on tv
formula 1
i doubt they will ever get saturday footy live as sky do
sky have ruined football in this country,,it s all about money and greed
not sure if apple would be the ones to sort it out

good point mate

maybe if they stopped spending all their money on topgear other sports might have a chance....

heard the budget for top gear is 1 million pound per show!

[zee24]

has Gullit left Sky then?

BBC will lose Wimbledon when the contract is up, just like NBC did after 43 years of showing it in the US, ESPN won the rights to show it for the nxt 12 years paying $400 million

[cablefreejunkie]

has Gullit left Sky then?

BBC will lose Wimbledon when the contract is up, just like NBC did after 43 years of showing it in the US, ESPN won the rights to show it for the nxt 12 years paying $400 million

i dont think the upper echilons of british society would ever let wimbledon go,i see your point about the NBC but i just cant see wimbledon going ppv,,although stranger things have happened
the only people to benefit from sky are players/agents/and managers
granted we have got to see some of the worlds best players playing right here in the uk,but every club below the pl right down to sunday league have suffered as a result of pl clubs having millions to spend and spending it on foreign players
so much talent in the uk,,and they dont even get a look in,,,some do but the majority dont

[sgerrard]

i dont think the upper echilons of british society would ever let wimbledon go,i see your point about the NBC but i just cant see wimbledon going ppv,,although stranger things have happened
the only people to benefit from sky are players/agents/and managers
granted we have got to see some of the worlds best players playing right here in the uk,but every club below the pl right down to sunday league have suffered as a result of pl clubs having millions to spend and spending it on foreign players
so much talent in the uk,,and they dont even get a look in,,,some do but the majority dont

top post mate

bang on about sky effecting even the lowest leagues

but im not sure the premier league has the best players anymore

who can we call trully world class in this league anymore?

i think your right about wimbledon aswell, think the adults would riot this time, instead of the hoodies.......

[cablefreejunkie]

top post mate

but im not sure the premier league has the best players anymore......

ok point taken but they definetly have the richest

[zee24]

coz of Man Shitty having more money then sense, theres only 2 players Messi n Ronaldo who should be on megga bucks

[cablefreejunkie]

coz of Man Shitty having more money then sense, theres only 2 players Messi n Ronaldo who should be on megga bucks

even before man city players wages were over inflated,,look at the financial state of the top clubs,,only mc and arsenal are ok
the rest have been turned upside down from profit making to debt ridden
should never have been allowed to happen,,

[tshirtman]

good point mate

maybe if they stopped spending all their money on topgear other sports might have a chance....

heard the budget for top gear is 1 million pound per show!

Top gear made a ?21 million profit last year, they sold it to over 100 countries,
with a world wide audience of over 300 million, plus merchandise and magazines.

[sgerrard]

Top gear made a ?21 million profit last year, they sold it to over 100 countries,
with a world wide audience of over 300 million, plus merchandise and magazines.

thanks for that mate

i always wondered how they could fund 1 million per show and the wages they pay those three

apparently there is a 10 year waiting list to go and watch the show aswell!

bloody put some of the profits back into showing prem footy, tight gitts..

but then again sky paid 1.6 billion for last years rights?! crazy

[tshirtman]

thanks for that mate

i always wondered how they could fund 1 million per show and the wages they pay those three

apparently there is a 10 year waiting list to go and watch the show aswell!

bloody put some of the profits back into showing prem footy, tight gitts..

but then again sky paid 1.6 billion for last years rights?! crazy

the thing that annoys me about top gear, is the amount Jeremy Clarkson gets paid, last year he made an additional ?830.000 on top of his ?1 million salary, because he has 30% shares in the company that sells it worldwide.

Jeremy Clarkson made 830,000 from Top Gear - Telegraph