British Pay-TV Broadcaster BT Keen To Retain Multi-Billion Dollar Champions League Soccer Rights But Rules Out Content Expansion

British pay-TV operator and Sky rival BT is keen to keep hold of the exclusive rights to show the Champions League soccer tournament in the UK but has no plans to expand its content offering outside of sport.

This comes as the telecoms company, which operates the BT Sport channel, said that it has fielded an “astounding” amount of interest from customers keen to watch the forthcoming Liverpool vs Spurs final on June 1.

The broadcaster is set to experience a boon with the first all-British final since 2008 as a result of Liverpool’s glorious comeback to beat Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur’s win over Ajax.

BT has the rights to the tournament in the UK until 2021, having paid £1.2B (US$1.6B) for the three-year deal. CEO Philip Jansen said that it would bid for the next three-year contract, but that it would be “disciplined” as the likes of Sky are set to be keen to snatch the rights.

“We’re going to be very disciplined when we bid for the UEFA Champions League rights, which is the next one to come up,” he said, adding that BT Sport has played a “key role” for the company.

However, he revealed that it would not be “going to go into more content at all.”

“Are we going to expand it? No,” he said at an investor presentation as part of its latest financial results.

BT has the exclusive rights to the AMC network in the UK, which airs shows including Fear The Walking Dead. Over the last few years, it has been speculated that BT would look to get further into drama and other areas of entertainment, with rumors of more channels to rival Sky, but Jansen has now ruled this out.