The game that matters… BT Sport reaches for the Sky – Brand Index
Following on from my column last week covering the home broadband market, I analyse another area in which BT has expanded in to – live broadcasts of Premier League matches.
Clubs are making the most of the massive money they receive from TV in order to bolster their squads. The two main domestic football broadcasters, BT Sport and Sky Sports, have once again locked horns in their battle for subscribers and viewers.
BT Sport has entered the market, challenging Sky’s dominance. With the new season now underway, I will assess YouGov BrandIndex data to see which brand now has the edge.
BT invested in big names to help deliver their message, including Jose Mourinho, Gareth Bale, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes, to tempt viewers to their channel.
Sky has featured David Beckham in its ads and responded with claims that it has “the games that matter”, with 49 out of the 50 most viewed games last season.
We can see that over the close season BT has had the most dramatic rise in our Ad Awareness metric. It rose from a score of 12.9 per cent at the start of June to a high point of 20.2 per cent at the beginning of August, when it surpassed Sky Sports for the first time this summer. While Sky, without a similar spike, still enjoys a higher average rating than its competitor (18.7 per cent compared to 14.8 per cent).
Perceived value for money will be key. Given that BT is currently still offering the Sport channels for free for its broadband customers, it’s not surprising that the public find its price to be fairer. Sky Sports has been the dominant player for years but it appears that BT Sport is finally providing some stiff competition.