Kieran Maguire: Aston Villa could rake it in as game-changing deal on the cards
Aston Villa and fellow Premier League clubs could be set for a bigger slice of the pie if Discovery and BT embark on a joint venture.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about a possible market shake-up from the two TV giants.
As reported by the Daily Mail on Thursday (3 February), Discovery and BT are in talks over a 50-50 merger.
Such a deal could see BT Sports and Eurosport combine their packages to create a service capable of challenging Sky Sports in the UK market.
Vill trousered £123.9m in central payments from the Premier League last term, as per the top-flight’s official figures.
Maguire insists that increased competition for Premier League rights can only be good news for individual clubs.
“Discovery are seeking critical mass as far as the sports market is concerned,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“If you don’t have rights in products that are in high demand, it’s difficult to attract money from subscribers.
“So this could mean that they decide to increase their involvement with the Premier League in future years.
“At present, BT have two packages, Sky have five, and Amazon have one. You buy an individual package of either 20 or 40 games.
“It’s quite intriguing the way it’s structured. If Discovery want to increase their mass, they could put in bigger bids for individual packages.
“Alternatively, we could see the Premier League sell more packages. Either way, the value of the deal could rise, which is great news for clubs like Aston Villa.
“BT have been looking for either an exit route or a way of reducing their exposure in the sports market for a while.“
Villa posted a £99.2m loss in their last set of accounts.
They are due to release their figures for the 2020-21 campaign in the first quarter of 2022.
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor tips Aston Villa to complete cut-price Yves Bissouma deal after reveal in last 24 hours