Sky hopes that huge Premier League TV football deal will score with fans – Brand Index
Sky Sports was clearly in no mood to relinquish to BT Sport the right to broadcast Premier League matches between 2016-19, despite having to shell out the bulk of the £5bn needed to secure those rights.
There has been some dissent, with some ex-players calling the amount of money involved obscene. Commentators have asserted that the money must be redistributed and funnelled down to the cash-strapped grassroots and be a means of lowering exorbitant ticket prices.
But has the wider public, and football fans in particular, reacted better? YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz metric measures whether a respondent has heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks.
Since the news broke last week, Sky Sports’ overall score has moved from a low of minus 0.3 to three, and among football fans, the broadcaster has come from behind, rising from minus 0.6 to 9.1.
But has this changed the general perception of Sky Sports?
Sky Sports BrandIndex Value metric shows that consumers already view the service as not being good value for money.
Among all respondents the value score is on average minus 11.1 and among football fans it’s only slightly better at minus seven.
The good news for Sky Sports is that YouGov data shows an increase in those considering signing up to the channels.
It is clear, therefore, that while the public is aware and impressed by the depth of coverage they are likely to get with the new deal, Sky needs to ensure affordability remains central to its offer in the three seasons to come.