Sky in claims BT tried to ‘muscle in’

Sky has claimed it won the battle over Premier League television rights after BT Sport tried to “muscle in”. 

The €7 billion deal for the 2016-19 rights was announced this week with Sky paying €5.6bn for 126 matches including the new Friday night slot, while BT Sport will pay €1.3bn for 42 games.

Sky has almost doubled its investment to retain five of the seven packages but corporate affairs director Graham McWilliam said it can absorb the costs.