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UK: BT chief attacks rampant price rises for TV sports rights

By  |  March 5, 2017

The chief executive of BT has said that rampant inflation in the prices paid for TV sports rights must come to an end, as the telecoms giant takes on rival Sky in the £1bn-plus battle for Champions League football.

First-round bids for Champions League rights are understood to have been submitted this week, with governing body Uefa aiming for an up to 30% increase from the new deal, to as much as £1.2bn. BT paid £900m to poach the exclusive rights from Sky under the existing deal.

Ahead of a decision on the next three-year deal, which could be announced as soon as next week, BT chief Gavin Patterson said that “rampant inflation in sports rights” has to end.

Patterson, who has been dealing with the fallout from a huge accounting scandal that has cost the company more than £500m to date, said that a limited period of inflation was expected.

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