SKY SPORTS HAVE made the latest move in the battle of the broadcasters by launching a new channel which will show up to 600 live European football matches next season.
Sky Sports 5 will be “the first-ever television channel dedicated to European football,” they said this morning, and will be available to sports package subscribers at no extra cost.
It will be the home of Sky’s Champions League, Spanish football and European qualifier games next season as well as Holland’s Eredivisie, which it has bought exclusive rights to for four years.
But that offering will be significantly diminished from the summer of 2015 when the Champions League and Europa League will be exclusive to rivals BT Sport, who snapped up the marquee competitions in a game-changing €1 billion deal.
BT also has the rights to Europe’s three other major leagues — Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 — while both broadcasting giants have a share of the live Premier League rights until the end of 2015/16.
Sky Sports 5′s availability on other TV platforms will be confirmed closer to launch on 12 August, the broadcaster said today.
A spokesperson for UPC told TheScore.ie that “we’re in discussions with Sky and unable to say anymore at this stage.”
