British telecoms giant BT announced a 'ground-breaking' 152m-pound deal on Wednesday afternoon for a range of exclusive live rights for Premiership Rugby, one of the biggest broadcast deals in the history of club rugby which deals a massive blow to current broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
Under the agreement, BT will have the exclusive live broadcast rights for four years to show Aviva Premiership Rugby and the JP Morgan Asset Management Sevens from the 2013-14 season, as well as matches played by Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs in any future European competitions from 2014-15 for three years.
Shares in BT Group were up 2.8% at 232.85p by 14:54, though they were helped higher after Credit Suisse raised its target price for the stock by a fifth to 300p this morning.
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Currently, live Aviva Premiership matches are currently split between BSkyB and ESPN: Sky has been the broadcaster of the English league since 1994 and began sharing the contract with ESPN in 2010. BSkyB's shares were down 1.12% at 749.5p.
BT said that rugby fans will now be able to catch all the action from the Aviva Premiership in one place with the bonus of additional live coverage from future European competitions from 2014.
"BT is delighted to have secured this deal. Rugby Union is entering a thrilling phase with the World Cup being staged here in 2015 and rugby returning to the Olympics in 2016," said BT Vision's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Marc Watson.
"BT is serious about sport and this deal means we will be offering the very best rugby action alongside some of the most thrilling football matches from the Premier League. That is a winning combination and one that will appeal to fans of both sports."
Mark McCafferty, the CEO of Premiership Rugby, the umbrella organisation of the Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs, hailed this as a "game-changing agreement".
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