BT share price: Telco gears up for Champions League rights auction

BT Group (LON:BT.A) is gearing up to defend its Champions League crown, with an auction for the television rights expected next month, The Telegraph has reported. European football became the backbone of BT Sport after the former telecoms monopoly outbid rivals in 2013.

BT’s share price has fallen deep into the red in London this Monday, having given up 2.32 percent to 174.62p as of 10:07 BST. The stock is underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.75 percent lower at 7,289.97 points. The group’s shares have given up more than 23 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a 2.7-percent fall in the Footsie.

Champions League rights

The Telegraph reported over the weekend that BT was getting kitted up to defend its Champions League crown, with European football’s governing body UEFA having signalled to potential bidders that it will put television rights on the block around the middle of next month. The newspaper notes that the former telecoms monopoly, which bought exclusive rights to all UEFA club competitions back in 2013, will be favourite to retain the deal.

City A.M. meanwhile said in its coverage of the news that Enders Analysis had commented in a note earlier this year that the auction offered BT “extensive scope for cost cutting”.

“We still struggle to see how rights are worth anything like roughly £400 million a year, especially given the unpredictable nature of English team performances going forward and limited window of important games,” the broker pointed out.

Analyst ratings update

According to MarketBeat, the former telecoms monopoly currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating, while the average target on the BT share price stands at 258.33p.

UBS reaffirmed its ‘neutral’ stance on the London-listed telco this month, pointing to ‘significant uncertainties’ which continue to cloud BT’s future.