All-EPL Champions League boosts BT Sport
May 10, 2019
Philip Jansen, the CEO of BT says the forthcoming all-English Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool has led to a huge surge in interest for BT Sport.
The miraculous midweek comebacks drew record audiences for BT Sport. Liverpool’s incredible 4-0 victory against Barcelona saw a 1.7 million average audience tune in, with a 2.7 million peak, whilst Spurs’ last gasp 3-2 victory over Ajax attracted an average audience of 1.5 million and a 2.4 million peak.
Jansen didn’t reveal figures but said: “The [call centre traffic] has been astounding but obviously we don’t reveal numbers. What is really interesting is app usage [to watch the matches], tablets … the numbers are amazing.”
Jansen also confirmed BT Sport will seek to retain the rights to the competition for a further three years from 2021 when they go up for auction later this year.
“We will obviously participate in the Champions League auction next time around. And on the Premier League we will [see] at the time [of the next auction]. We will take a very disciplined approach to how we think about sports rights. There is no need to strengthen what we have currently got,” said Jansen.