Sky和BT高額支付英超版權後，轉過身來是怎麼向酒吧收費的？

前天在推薦一篇足球英語文章最後處寫到，

之後若有空會推薦一篇衛報文章，講Sky和BT高額支付英超版權後，轉過身來是怎麼向酒吧收費的，細節豐滿，也很有意思。

現在來兌現諾言了。

下面分為兩部分：

第一部分是看這篇衛報文章中我做的筆記，已分享在足球英語社群，現也分享在這。

第二部分是衛報文章原文。

第一部分

bumper 異常大的；豐盛的

Premier League s bumper TV deal 英超的電視肥約（英超電視版權非常貴的賣給了電視台）

on hold 擱置；尚未辦理的事情；暫停生產

hike up = hike =把（價格、稅率等）大幅提高 = up （up可以做動詞）

pub 酒吧

cover 足以支付；夠付

cover the cost 足夠支付費用

wage （通常指按周領的）工資

earn bigger wages 掙取更高的工資/周薪

levelling-off 弄平；達到同一水準；(物價等)穩定；(飛機降落前)水平飛行

cap （動詞）限定金額

seats for away fans have already been capped at ￡30.

客場球迷座位（門票）不得超過30英鎊

But, where there is commercial progress there is a cost to bear and that cost usually finds its way to the consumer – or, as we call them in football, the 「supporter」.

但是哪裡有商業進步，哪裡就有成本要去承擔，而成本通常是消費者來承擔，足球中也就是球迷。

bear （動詞）承擔

supporter 球迷，支持者

subscription 訂閱費，訂購款，訂閱，訂購

（我們總說國外有付費習慣，其實任何國家消費者如果能省錢都不願意花錢，而在國外，體育和電影被認為是最後的堡壘，是能讓消費者願意付費的內容，國外在這基本是打通了。國內的愛奇藝在影視劇付費上摸索中。騰訊在NBA收費中摸索得有成效。）

rateable 應納稅的；可估價的

徵稅估定價值(rateable values,RV)

On average, pubs pay around ￡20,000 per year for both Sky and BT, with the broadcasters basing their fees on the rateable value of each individual pub. The costs are determined by the size of the venue, the wealth of the area and the various services they offer.

平均下來，酒吧每年得支付2萬英鎊給天空體育（Sky）和英國電信（BT），這兩家廣播電視公司根據每個酒吧的徵稅估定價值(rateable values)來收費。對酒吧的收費是看酒吧大小、酒吧所在地的富庶程度、酒吧提供哪些服務。

（這一個一個酒吧，跑去收，不累死？好奇怎麼收的。）

So large venues in central London will be significantly greater sums than small, rural pubs.

所以倫敦中央的大酒吧比郊區小酒吧支付給廣播電視公司的錢要多。

publican 酒館老闆（或經理）；旅館老闆（或經理）

subscription rate 訂閱費

steep price 過高的價格

prime 盛年；年富力強的時期；鼎盛時期

prime years of his athletic career 運動生涯的黃金時段

Net Sales 凈銷售收入，凈銷售額

總銷售額-銷貨退回與折讓=凈銷售額

現金折扣（Cash Discount）又稱銷售折扣（sale discount）。為敦促顧客儘早付清貨款而提供的一種價格優惠。

，n/30，15E.O.M。例如，Ａ公司向Ｂ公司出售商品30 000元，付款條件為2/10,N/60,如果Ｂ公司在10日內付款，只須付29400元，如果在60天內付款，則須付全額30,000。）

Profit margins are tight and consumers fickle. 利潤微薄,而且消費者是變化無常

fickle 易變的；無常的；反覆無常的

profit margin 利潤率

tight 指（金錢或時間）拮据的；不寬裕的

For example, the Old Red Lion Theatre Pub, a medium-sized venue in central London, is charged ￡26,114 per year to show Sky and BT Sport. With 168 games available to show throughout the season, the cost breaks down at ￡148 per game on Sky and ￡178.50 per game on BT.

舉個例子，倫敦中央中等規模的老紅獅劇院酒吧，每年要支付26114英鎊才能播放天空體育和英國電信的英超比賽。整個賽季共有168場比賽可播，分解一算，每場天空體育比賽得花148英鎊，每場英國電信比賽得花178.5英鎊。

pint 一品脫啤酒（尤用於酒吧）

品脫（容量單位，為 D 加侖，在英國等國家約合 0.568 升，在美國約合 0.473 升）

break even 收支平衡；收支相抵；不賺不賠

net profit 凈利潤

shrink （使）縮小，收縮，減少

squeeze 榨取

landlord 樓主；店主；業主（此處指酒店老闆）

shrinking the net profit on a pint and further squeezing the landlord.

減少了每品脫啤酒的凈利潤，進一步壓榨了酒吧老闆

landline 固定電話；座機 （和mobile phone 行動電話、手機相對應）

battering ram （舊時的圓木）攻城錘

?

In 1996, Rupert Murdoch admitted that 「live sport is the battering ram to get pay-for-TV into people』s homes.」

1996年，默多克承認體育直播是讓付費電視走進百姓家裡的攻城錘。（也就是說體育直播是讓民眾接受付費電視的利器，很多人不願意花錢看新聞、看民生頻道，但是願意花錢花大錢看梅威瑟pk帕奎奧，因為血脈噴張，視覺衝擊力強，刺激，也願意花錢看英超，看歐冠，所以如果體育直播都不能讓百姓付費的話，那就真的沒什麼內容能讓人付錢了。當然電影音樂也能讓人付費。）

?

live sport 體育直播

（背景介紹：

2016年啤酒釀造公司Molson Coors旗下的啤酒品牌Carling與英超達成了贊助協議。所以天空體育肯定會推廣Carling這個品牌）

Pubs can save up to 33% on their total fee by stocking Molson Coors products, although the discount only applies if they hit a sales quota. A publican might then find themselves in a position where the only way they can afford Sky is by selling products they didn』t want in the first place.

酒吧總費用最高可以省下33%，條件是它得批發Molson Coors啤酒公司的產品，而且只有酒吧的啤酒銷量達到一定指標後才會有折扣。因此一個酒吧老闆可能發現他能付得起天空體育費用的唯一方式就是得賣他並不想要的啤酒。

up to 高達

stock （動詞） 存儲

sales quota 銷售額

If Sky decide to shift distributors for a better deal in a year』s time, publicans must follow them in making the switch, abandoning the drinks they have spent a year encouraging their customers to buy.

如果天空體育一年內和其他啤酒公司談成了更好合作，那酒吧老闆又得跟著天空體育轉變、放棄掉Carling啤酒，可是前一年他們都一直在鼓勵消費者喝Carling。

distributor 經銷商；分銷商

make the switch 做轉變

barrage 本意是：火力網；（尤指）掩護炮火；接二連三的一大堆（質問或指責等）

第二部分

Who is paying for the Premier League s bumper TV deal? Your local pub

Sky and BT hiked up prices by around 10% last summer to cover the cost of their ￡8.3bn deal with the Premier League. Not every pub can afford to pay

The recent Premier League season was the first in the latest three-year broadcasting deal, which gives the Premier League ￡8.3bn in TV rights, with￡5.14bn of that coming from two domestic broadcasters, Sky and BT. The 71% increase on the previous deal was welcome news for clubs, players and many supporters. Clubs have larger sums to spend on players, who are earning bigger wages, and the beginning of a levelling-off effect is being seen within the league, as the extra income helps smaller clubs attract and keep a broader range of talent. Clubs are less reliant on matchday income and fans hope this will lead to cheaper tickets;seats for away fans have already been capped at ￡30.

But, where there is commercial progress there is a cost to bear and that cost usually finds its way to the consumer – or, as we call them in football, the 「supporter」. The cost of home subscriptions have gone up a little but broadcasters have found another way of increasing their revenues: by charging pubs more.

On average, pubs pay around ￡20,000 per year for both Sky and BT, with the broadcasters basing their fees on the rateable value of each individual pub. The costs are determined by the size of the venue, the wealth of the area and the various services they offer. So large venues in central London will be significantly greater sums than small, rural pubs. Sky and BT responded to the new TV deal by increasing their prices substantially: Sky upped their prices by 10% last summer and BT followed suit with an 8.9% rise.

Greg Mulholland, the Liberal Democrat MP who set up the All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group in 2009, warned that a 「fairer deal」 was needed for publicans and fans. 「Sporting events place huge pressure on pubs, particularly smaller operators, as many cannot afford to pay the subscription rates that BT and Sky charge, and then lose out on custom because they aren』t showing the sport. BT』s planned price hike only worsens this problem, with many publicans already unable to afford the steep prices.」

According to a report by MatchPint and CGA pubs that show Premier League football increase their wet sales by ￡30,000 per year, but the margins are often tight and many are struggling to pay the high costs. For example, the Old Red Lion Theatre Pub, a medium-sized venue in central London, is charged ￡26,114 per year to show Sky and BT Sport. With 168 games available to show throughout the season, the cost breaks down at ￡148 per game on Sky and ￡178.50 per game on BT.

If an average pint costs ￡4.50, you might think that selling 35 pints means the pub breaks even, but the net profit on drinks is significantly lower. The Old Red Lion calculates that they must sell 88 pints per game to break even. This could happen during the bigger clashes, but a standard Saturday lunchtime game is unlikely to bring enough custom. Additionally, pubs with ties to a pub company (such as Punch Taverns) are obliged to buy their beer through that company, often at a higher cost than the market value, shrinking the net profit on a pint and further squeezing the landlord.

The recent price hikes took off in 2013, when BT first entered the scene. In 2012, the Old Red Lion was paying ￡1,595 per month for Sky. The following year, when BT took 38 games a year from Sky, the pub』s Sky bill dropped by just ￡50 per month but they had to pay an additional ￡600 per month to BT, just to show games they were already showing the previous year. Not every pub can sustain these rises.

Chris Roach, landlord of the White Lion Inn in Solihull – a small, rural pub – pays ￡12,036 per year. Chris says the viewing area in his pub has a capacity of 30 people but, because the pub is in an affluent area, his rates and fees are high. 「A big pub within five miles has 18 screens and holds 400 people. Guess what? They pay the same rates.」

The Woodman Inn in Witney – a similarly small pub in a rural area – pays around ￡10,000 per year, with 38 seats in the viewing area. The landlord, Mark Fiddler, cancelled his contracts last summer in the hope of renegotiating a better deal but the broadcasters were unmoved. 「They don』t care about the small, rural, village pub,」 says Mark. 「I am lucky if we take ￡2,500 a week in this pub and, with Punch Taverns taking their share, there is nothing left to keep the pub open.」

With their focus on broadband, phone and TV packages, Sky might not be interested in reducing the cost to pubs. Where is the benefit in giving supporters the option of crowding together to watch football, when each individual might command a home package, complete with internet and a landline? In 1996, Rupert Murdoch admitted that 「live sport is the battering ram to get pay-for-TV into people』s homes.」 He didn』t mention pubs.

Pubs can save up to 33% on their total fee by stocking Molson Coors products, although the discount only applies if they hit a sales quota. A publican might then find themselves in a position where the only way they can afford Sky is by selling products they didn』t want in the first place. Chris Roach of the White Lion Inn is one such publican: 「I receive a discount of ￡3,611 plus VAT, as I have sold my soul to Molson Coors via Carling to guarantee a certain barrage of their products.」 If Sky decide to shift distributors for a better deal in a year』s time, publicans must follow them in making the switch, abandoning the drinks they have spent a year encouraging their customers to buy.

If the present is dim, the future is darker; broadcasters are currently dealing with a sizeable decline in viewing figures. Sky』s ratings dropped by 14% last season and BT』s Champions League figures went down by as much as 40% on certain days. The picture is similar in the US, where ESPN recorded their largest ever subscriber loss in October 2016, with 621,000 customers cancelling their subscriptions. With the broadcasters bringing in less money on subscriptions, they may yet look to pubs to pick up the slack.

Sky are paying a hefty ￡11m to broadcast each Premier League match – compared to ￡7.6m for BT – but they will not want to lose their rights. When Premier League rights shifted from one broadcaster to another in Hong Kong last year, customers followed the football and the share prices of the broadcaster that lost the rights plummeted. In fear of a similar fate, Sky could continue to bid high, pushing the increasing costs on to the consumer, and in particular, pubs.

The Premier League is shown in 212 territories, in 643 million homes, with a potential audience of 4.7 billion people. Manchester United recently became the first British club to record annual revenue of over ￡500m, money that helped them sign Paul Pogba for a world record fee of ￡93m last summer and add Romelu Lukaku for ￡75m this month. Your local pub might be struggling with the cost of all that.

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