They are just going to have pay more money to see the sport in different ways... but for a fan that doesn't matter

James Dow, KPMG

Hutchison 3G last week sealed an estimated �35m deal with the FA Premier League to provide football news and clips to their customers.

The mobile phone company will hold all the Premier League rights for the latest mobile technologies for three years from August.

Third generation mobile technology services are not expected to be launched in the UK until next year, but should offer users video and audio clips on their mobile phone, as well as high-speed internet access.

Many commentators doubt there is any money to be made from third generation mobiles, and phone companies now hope that sport will help them bank some profits.

Mobile future

Last year, mobile phone companies paid billions of pounds for third generation technology licences in Europe, landing themselves in huge debt.

Now they hope that they will be able to get some of this money back by charging football fans to watch match clips and get goal updates on their new mobile phones.

It is easy to see why they believe that football could help solve their financial problems. Football is the most widely followed sport in the UK, with about 17 million men and women watching it regularly on television.

Broadcasters have long fought bitter and expensive battles to buy the rights to broadcast football on television. And the rights winners, such as BSkyB, have benefited from enormous subscriber growth.

Under the deal with Hutchison, subscribers will be able to receive footage of selected goals seconds after they have been scored.

Hutchison boss Colin Tucker looks to football for profits

Clips of matches, match commentaries, archive material, still photographs, results and fixture listings will all be available.

A Hutchison spokesman said: "All operators are working towards the same goal: securing the most valuable content to give that level of differentiation between ourselves and other operators when we launch.

"We all launch at the same time. [We are] all looking for the stuff that is really going to enthuse the customer."

Pitched for battle?

How the battle for rights will develop and whether it will match the TV-rights bidding in its ferocity and cost is unclear.

A Premier League spokesman said it was possible that demand for mobile phone rights could escalate. "A lot of companies do see football as a driver," he said.

There is probably only a hard core of people who will pay to be told about a goal 30 seconds after it has been scored

Rebecca Ulph, Forrester Research

KPMG's head of European football business unit, James Dow, believes the potential for mobile phone football rights is enormous - as it can also allow the clubs to access their overseas fan base.

The Hutchison spokesman said: "It is quite hard to predict how it will be going forward."

However, a spokesman for Manchester United sponsor and mobile rival Vodafone said: "There are no bidding battles at the moment. All of the network operators not just in the UK but the world are looking at rights issues in general terms."

Who is right?

One of the reasons for this difference of opinion is uncertainty over the ownership of the rights to particular games. Does the club or the league enjoy the rights?

Some operators have already linked up with clubs.

As part of its sponsorship deal with Manchester United, Vodafone may in future broadcast clips of its matches. Some speculate this could create conflict with the Hutchison/Premier League deal, although Vodafone dismisses this.

Vodafone has already gained a march by getting Manchester United onside

Uncertainty over rights is encouraging companies to "lock in rights before the market does really explode", Forrester Research analyst Rebecca Ulph said.

This uncertainty is not just limited to squabbles between clubs and the league - where do the players fit in?

"How much power does an individual star have?" she added.

"The images are probably owned by the club. The peripheral activities they can do online are immense at the moment. Who owns the rights, the club or the player?"

At this early stage, broadcasters appear unlikely to lose out. They may wish to buy up the mobile and television rights, sub-licensing them to operators, the Vodafone spokesman points out.

Forrester Research's Ulph agrees with this analysis and anticipates that the "broadcasters will always be the winners in the sports market".

Football bonus

Whether football is the one true saviour of mobile phones, it is unlikely that phones will help football companies much.

Year after year, the high cost of reimbursing players has been cited as a reason for poor or falling profits at many football clubs.

Football's appeal is global and the mobile companies could benefit from this

"It is a pretty clear trend, every time clubs identify a new income stream, player wages keep going up," KPMG's Dow said.

Fans too will enjoy the new service anytime, anywhere, but at a cost. But what will fans ultimately be prepared to pay for?

"There is probably only a hard core of people who will pay to be told about a goal 30 seconds after it has been scored," said Forrester Research's Rebecca Ulph.

But she added there might be more of a market for video and audio clips, particularly if the subscriber packages were linked to exclusive television or online coverage.

KPMG's Dow said: "They [fans] are just going to have to keep paying more money to see the sport in different ways...[but] for a fan that doesn't matter."