The Premier League said the resulting effect will be a lack of competition for football rights and a decrease in its TV revenues, which will “make it harder to recruit and retain top talent” by leaving less money to the clubs.
“Of course we will be considering Ofcom's findings in full and do not rule out a challenge to protect the interests of fans, clubs and the wider game,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said in a statement.
England rugby union chief executive Francis Baron said the RFU was “incredibly disappointed” that concerns of all affected sports rights holders were not taken into account by Ofcom, whose consultation process was “inadequate and flawed.”
“Ofcom set out to review pay TV but in doing so have ended up interfering in the sports rights market where they have no competence nor experience and their intervention will remove competition from the sports rights market,” Baron said.
Steve Elworthy, director of marketing and communications at the England and Wales Cricket Board, said the ECB is “very concerned about the implications of the decision.”
“Broadcast revenues are vital to the health of our game and allows us to fund cricket at all levels,” Elworthy told Press Association Sport. “A decision like this could lead to less investment in sport. It fails to consider the damage it could cause to sports from the grassroots upwards and that's our biggest concern.”
Sky said it will appeal the decision however the pay-operator’s shares rose 3.44 per cent yesterday as the City judged Ofcom's ruling not as bad as was expected.
