Sky shares drop after huge Premier League deal

The huge cost of Premier League football rights saw Sky's shares fall today after it paid more than £4 billion for the lion's share of games.

Sky and rival BT have agreed to pay a combined £5.14 billion for a three-year package of matches to 2019 - a rise of 70% on the previous deal.

The broadcast giants saw their shares fall by 5% today after the result of the auction was disclosed last night.

Sky has almost doubled its investment to retain five of the seven packages, including a new Friday night slot, while BT Sport will pay £960 million for its matches, including Saturday evening fixtures.

BT shares, which have been at a 14-year high, rose 4% as it was seen as having secured the better deal, however Sky shares did hit a record high earlier this year.

It pledged to minimise the impact of higher rights costs on customers, with the majority of the funding for the new deal coming through efficiency plans.

Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: "This is a good result and confirms that Sky is the unrivalled choice for sports fans.

"We went into the Premier League auction with a clear objective and are pleased to have secured the rights that we wanted."