The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Sky BT Sport

Battle between Sky Sports and BT Sport heats up ahead of August launch

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

June 15, 2013 | 2 min read

BSkyB upped the stakes in the war with new broadcast competitor BT on Friday by offering free, unlimited broadband to anyone who signs up to its Sky Sports package.

Deal: Sky Sports is slashing its broadband price

The move follows the announcement from BT last month that its BT broadband customers would receive the new BT Sport service free.

Sky also announced a cut in price for its totally unlimited broadband package, meaning the cost of broadband for new customers could be as little as £5 per month on top of line rental.

BT appeared nonchalant about the announcement, commenting that the new service from BT was a “game changer” and claiming it would still be cheaper for customers to use BT.

However, Sky countered BT’s claims, stating that BT customers could save as much as £200 by switching to Sky.

BT Sport will launch on 1 August, just ahead of the new football season. With the service offering 38 exclusive Barclays Premier League matches as well as FA Cup football, coverage of the Scottish Premier League, international football from the Bundesliga and Serie A, the new channels will be a major challenge to the long standing dominance of Sky Sports.

In April, Sky Sports refused to air an ad for BT Sport on any of its channels, resulting in BT’s John Petter accusing the broadcaster of behaving like “a rottweiler running away from a new born puppy”.

Sky BT Sport

More from Sky

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +