BT Sport has agreed a new two-year deal with the football conference to screen 30 live matches per season from the Conference Premier.
Coverage from the fifth tier of English football had previously been held by Premier Sports, the channel backed by former Setanta Sports director Michael O’Rourke.
BT Sport will host live broadcasts from the grounds for 25 league matches, plus both legs of the play-off semis and the Promotion Final at Wembley, from the start of the 2013-14 season in August. “We are delighted that we’ve been able to invest in the Non-League game and play our part in helping community clubs to flourish,” said head of BT Sport Simon Green. “We are not just interested in the glamour of the Premier League; we’d like to bring the excitement and grit of the Conference Premier to a new audience, as well as its existing strong fan base.”
BT Sport has already secured the rights to show 38 exclusively live football matches from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 of the ‘top picks’ from August 2013 for three seasons.
The channels will also show live FA Cup, Europa League and Scottish Premier League matches, as well as top tier live football from Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Australia and the United States, plus action from the FA Women’s Super League.
This new deal suggests that it is not just Sky Sports’ set of rights that is under pressure.
