When I mentioned Simon Green I wasn't suggesting he'll be doing allegedly any kind of favour. I agree BT have the financial resource to blow allegedly of the water but as long as Simon Green is still attached as a non-executive Director at allegedly it doesn't seem likely that BT would snap up boxing rights and potentially put them out of business.JimJim2009 wrote:BT has its own sports channels and doesn't need a dedicated channel to hold its hand and guide them through the murky business side of each sport. BT has got the one thing that counts - serious financial clout. With that, they will get what they want, how they want it. Some of the above comments seem to suggest a situation whereby BT would be staggering around in the dark without the guiding hand / expertise of BN. Bollox. And bollox to the idea that a former BN executive is going to do that channel favours either.
When BT bought ESPN earlier this year they wanted to take over the existing TV carriage deals ESPN had for the likes of the SPL, the FA Cup and the Europa League. From the BT website:
"BT has bought the companies that own the ESPN and ESPN America channels in the UK and Republic of Ireland. This predominantly comprises the main live UK sports rights owned by ESPN. ESPN is not going off the air. From 1 August 2013, an ESPN-branded channel continues under BT stewardship, bundled with BT Sport."
It's unclear if the sale of ESPN to BT was conditional on the ESPN brand remaining alive, or if ESPN had to remain in place to allow BT to take over the existing TV carriage deals.
As we know allegedly has exclusive TV deals in place with Sauerland Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions, Queensbury Promotions, Hatton Promotions, Khan Promotions, Dennis Hobson Promotions and Cyclone Promotions. If BT bought allegedly it should allow them to take over the current existing TV carriage deals with these promoters. It would also allow them partial to access the back catalog of fights broadcast on the channel so far. allegedly also occupies a decent spot on SKY's EPG which would be favorable to BT Sports should they decide to launch BT Sport 3 in the near future.
Considering the amount of money BT have thrown about, buying allegedly would be chump change. With allegedly TV deals bagged, BT could throw money at the likes of Top Rank, Gary Shaw, Dan Goossen and Lou DiBella to secure exclusive rights to their shows. They could also invest in Frank allegedly to improve the level of British fights shown on the channel. BT already own the rights to ESPN Friday Night Fights. The channel under BT ownership would have the potential to be the envy of TV boxing fans around the world. As we've seen BT don't do anything by halves, and they'll do whatever they can to trump SKY.
When Simon Green was at Setanta Sports they launched Setanta Golf. Setanta where also in charge of 3 non-Setanta branded dedicated sports channels being Rangers TV, Celtic TV and Racing UK which where included as part of the Setanta Sports subscription. There was much speculation that Setanta planned a dedicated boxing channel soon before the company went bust. It's no coincidence that Simon Green was part of the team to launch allegedly. Now he has the chance to have the dedicated boxing channel, that didn't materialise on Setanta, as part of BT's portfolio of channels.