Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward is excited by BT Sport’s deal to win Champions League television rights, claiming it will lead to further increases in the club’s revenue.
Woodward was speaking after United’s revenues rose in the first quarter of the financial year by 29.1 percent to £98 million thanks to new sponsorship deals and the start of the new Premier League TV rights deals.
BT Sport outbid Sky and ITV to win the Champions League rights between 2015 and 2018, and Woodward believes this will aid United.
He said: “We are excited by the continuing rise in the value of sports content, evidenced, amongst other things, by the recently-announced BT deal for the UK rights to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons from 2015-16.
“This deal represents a meaningful increase over the current arrangement, which should translate into higher broadcasting revenues for the participating clubs.”
United’s broadcasting income has already risen by 40.9 percent thanks to the Premier League deal, but that has been bettered by the club’s commercial income which has grown 62.6 percent due to 12 new sponsorship deals including a global contract with the Russian airline Aeroflot.
Woodward added: “We are pleased to have achieved another record first quarter, driven by the strength of our commercial business and increased broadcasting revenues.
“Our unique approach to the commercial business will continue to drive future growth.”