anyone who watched the dutch football on ss5 last year should have been under whelmed, a few years ago the top teams had some good players but last year was dire, the spl lacks quality and competitiveness (1/33 celtic), so sky paying  huge sums for the epl really does look a risky gamble

Sky and BT both binned. Match of the day on a Saturday night now and Sportscene on a Sunday night.
If there's a big game on (which are few and far between anyway) will just watch it online for free. Fcuk them

Prices will be going up whichever way you look at it. BT may do it slightly differently (eg increasing landline prices) but it will cost more. I've already cancelled Sky Sports, will see what happens with BT prices.

Seems bizarre to me that in 2015 so many people feel trapped by subscription fees.

Every match is free somewhere on the net....it's a bit like standing in a library with every book in the world in it for free whilst complaining because Waterstones prices are too high.

i cancelled BT  yesterday,but in a contract with sky until December,so we will wait and see.

not tellin yer because it will mean more people use it and lower the quality

Private message me it G1Jockey, Ta!

Paying for football with Sky is like buying The Racing Post these days.
More and more punters are knocking the whole thing on the head.

The Charity Shield was live on Bet365

Betfair need to get the finger out as watch it in Bet365, bet on Bet365

It has to be said that put a score in nobet£3.65 and you can watch live streaming...

You will not be allowed to bet but you can at least watch the game...

wtf , just to say this is not the case that activating Sports5 put anyone in a contract

You can watch a lot of football from different leagues for free on bet365. I find the EPL boring after watching it for so many years and currently it isway too over rated and over hyped. Sky/BT can keep it!

bt sports and sky sports are pointless you can watch most football streams on betting sites these days

Darts, Snooker and Poker

jesus chrust nice duble space

I would ditch both if i didn't make more than the monthly subs on BF by having them, so in that respect only it is a no-brainer for me to have them. Not that I watch many games without trading them, which for me is not the same as watching a match. It is rare that I actually sit down and watch a match in full without trading because there are relatively féck all of them that grab my interest over the course of a season, games that i wouldn't miss.

Sky broke the bank for the PL because they would be quickly bankrupt if they lost it imo and if they do lose it for one 3 year period, they might never get it back (same goes for any TV co from now on imo). They didn't have an issue being held to ransom for the PL bidding. The main PL rights are an insurance policy for the success of their business and the public pays the premium. La liga and the CL are not.

For me, the PL, CL and la liga (also Bundesliga, France and Italy) are crap leagues, destroyed by money a long time ago and getting worse and less entertaining year on year. Last year the EL had way more entertaining matches than the CL imo, depends what you are entertained by. Younger fans are apparently into watching superstars in the biggest teams even if 4/5 matches are a procession. Not me, i'd prefer to watch the championship or EL where both teams have a realistic chance of getting a result and the result is somewhat unpredictable. You get two teams having a proper go at each other in way more games in the EL. Most older fans who watched pre-sky feel that way, young fans don't know any different (and most importantly, don't pay the subs!). Lack of competition on the pitch sucks 90% of the entertainment out for me. Ironically, and purely from a relative value for money perspective, I would pay double to watch football if it were like the good old football before TV money destroyed it. Money in the game has come full circle and devalued the top, formerly the most entertaining, leagues.

So for anyone who doesn't cover the cost of TV subs thru betting, I would say give them both a miss. Find something else to occupy most of the time. Go down the pub with your mates when there's a big match on. You won't miss much and if enough people do it then these leech companies will not be able to risk these high bids again and the prices should fall for everyone.

BT were introduced to provide competition for Sky's monopoly. True competition results in competitive prices. But true competition would involve two channels showing the same matches and a price war. The PL has ensured that can't happen with its packages, it has lined its own pockets, as have sky and BT by increasing the price the fan has to pay. Every single live game is exclusive to one channel only. There is nothing whatsoever competitive about that and the competition authority knows that well and has stood by and let these businesses, including the PL, unashamedly milk the consumer, the very people they are there to protect. You also have the strange scenario nowadays where it is not just about TV subs any more, strategically it is also about broadband and phone market share now too, so you have a company like BT getting into TV/football in order to protect its broadband market share in anticipation of sky offering a competitive product. That will at some point lead to a company bidding a ridiculous price which might be subsidised by broadband subs because it is just a strategic no-brainer for their business at any cost. I suspect that has probably happened already with Sky's last bid.

confirmed sky to show la liga for next 3 years

BT never really wanted the rights IMO and only made a token bid so Sky wouldn't get it too cheaply.

La Liga screwed up by messing Sky around with trying to start an auction and almost ended up selling them for less than they cost last time.