Game theory

BSkyB needs football broadcast rights the way a football team needs paying fans. Footie is what most of the satellite broadcaster’s subscribers pay for. So it could not really afford to lose the auction for Premier League rights. It has indeed won, but at a high cost. BSkyB ended up paying £1.3bn for four of the six available packages. That was roughly 30% more than it spent last time and 20% more than analysts expected. On its own, the unexpected premium would reduce the operating profit margi...