'Customers to bear costs' of £5 billion Premier League TV deal

The boss of Virgin Media has said customers will have to bear the massive cost of the recent Premier League football rights deal.

Tom Mockridge said prices would go up to because of the £5 billion package - split between Sky and BT.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has joined calls for lower ticket prices following the announcement of a record television rights deal.

Premier League clubs can afford to reduce the price of every match ticket by £40 as a result of the new television deal, a leading supporters' group have claimed.

Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supporters' Federation, told ITV News: "The clubs could afford - on this sort of television revenue - to reduce £40 from every match ticket and be no worse off than they have been this season."

Mr Miles said it was "about time" football fans received a "bit of payback", adding: "The spectacle that the broadcasters are so keen to buy into depends on the atmosphere generated by fans.

"There is so much money there now, they can afford to dramatically reduce ticket prices.

"Premier League footballers are not known for being hard up at the moment."

Jamie Carragher, the Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender, says ticket pricing for fans has to change after a record Premier League TV deal was announced.

The ex-England international - who has worked as part of Sky's punditry team since 2013 - also joked: "That's the coaching badges out the window for a few years."