BT expands TV footprint through EE and YouTube
EE customers will get access to BT Sport ahead of next Premier League season, with prices to be revealed this summer
BT has unveiled plans to expand BT Sports channels through a range of digital offers including YouTube and mobile through EE.
The plans will see BT stream its Freeview BT Sport Showcase channel on YouTube for both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals on May 28 and May 18 respectively.
It will also roll out a BT Sport off to EE’s customer base this summer, in preparation for the 2016/17 football season.
Prices for the EE offer, which will initially be available to 4GEE customers, will not be revealed until summer. It follows BT’s £12.5 billion acquisition of the operator, which was completed in January, and is the first cross-selling bundle the combined entity has launched.
Over five million homes have subscribed to BT Sport since it was launched three years ago, and the telecoms giant last year spent £960 million on Premier League football rights.
BT Consumer chief executive John Petter said: “We’ve always said we wanted to give top quality sport back to the people and making the UEFA Champions League and Europa League finals free to everyone in the UK does this in a big way.
“We’re also bringing BT Sport to a new generation of younger sports fans who view their entertainment online, through social media and on their mobile devices. We plan to make these finals the most social sports broadcast ever, with lots of exciting content in the build-up and on the night across YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.”
The Champions League final will see a Madrid derby as Spanish giants Real Madrid clash with Atletico Madrid at the San Siro stadium in Milan.
The Europa League final will feature Premier League team Liverpool taking on reigning champions Sevilla.
YouTube senior director EMEA Stephen Nuttall said: “At YouTube, we love football and we’re thrilled to give UK supporters more ways to watch BT Sport’s fantastic live coverage of these two massive games.
“Fans today expect quality content on every screen and this partnership enables just that. Football is YouTube’s biggest sport; we’re host to over 300 football clubs, 37 leagues and channels from BT Sport to UEFA.”