[Salopbaggie]

Just to put the other side of the argument, I can totally see and agree the points raised above about Sky, however don't you think that it is to late now, as once the genie is out of the bottle, it is not possible to put it back.

You have to remember in any auction, for anything, in this case TV rights, there is always an under bidder so if Sky were not to pay the money, there would be companies lining up such as BT, Santana and the like, to bid in their place.  In fact you could argue, as this bidding for football was started many years ago when the BBC and ITV were trying to outbid each other for the rights to show domestic and international football, a battle usually won by the BBC.  OK the amounts now are considerable higher, but back in those days they were only bidding pretty much for a highlights show.

You could also argue that if we did not have the money here, it would just move somewhere else and our standards of football would drop as many players playing primarily in England would play overseas where their wages would be improved by TV sponsorship, English players as well as foreign players.

Personally, it is giving the money to Murdoch which sticks in my claw far more than giving it to Sky.