Technology giant Google could bid for the rights to showing live English Premier League matches, according to beIN Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray.
During a debate about the business of football at the 11th Arabian Business Forum, Keys and Gray said Google, as well as BT, and other media outlets, could try to outbid Sky for the rights to the football coverage.
“Everybody wants a share of the English Premier League,” said Gray, who added that the competition was necessary to keep TV revenue high for clubs, who could then have the knock-on effect of pushing ticket prices down.
The last successful bid, won by Sky Sports, cost $5 billion – a figure Gray said was “going up next year”.
Google has routinely been touted as a potential bidder in recent years, as has Apple, Al Jazeera, and Gray and Keys’s current employers, beIN Sports.
Expanding on the issue of ticket prices, Gray said: “If clubs get more money [from TV revenues] then they should reduce ticket prices so people can come and watch the games. Without football fans we don’t have a sport.”
Premier League clubs were recently criticised for the cost of match tickets following the publication of the BBC Price of Football survey, with analysts suggesting the high prices are stopping fans from attending matches.
The survey, released in October, showed that Arsenal have the highest match-day ticket price of GBP97, while the cheapest ticket price is GBP15 for Newcastle United.
In contrast, Keys said: “In Germany, you can buy a season ticket for the equivalent of £100, and that includes most of your away match travel. If you’re making big money from TV, you should be able to do that.
“When we started with Sky 20 years ago, every stadium in England was being made bigger, and every seat was sold. That’s just not the case any more. It’s dwindling.”
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