HU welcomes introduction of Molson Coors Discount with Sky TV

07 August 2017

HU welcomes introduction of Molson Coors Discount with Sky TV

Colin Neill, Hospitality Ulster CEO, statement on Molson Coors & Sky TV deal.

"We welcome today’s Molson Coors discount initiative that will allow pubs in Northern Ireland up to 20% off their Sky TV bill in return for selling Molson draft beers"

"Molson Coors deserves credit for this action and helping to bring down the cost of showing Sky Sports in Northern Ireland.

It is disappointing that Sky continue to hide behind their policy of secrecy and their own discounts available in the rest of the UK.

Hospitality Ulster has lobbied for this supplier offer to be introduced to Northern Ireland and it will provide some welcome relief for licensed premises selling Molson Coors draft beers, especially as the higher costs of Premiership football broadcasting rights in recent years have been passed onto pubs and hotels by Sky TV.

However our outstanding issue relating to UK Sky TV discounts for food and distance form population that are not available in Northern Ireland remains. Sky TV continue to insist that NI prices are in line with the rest of the UK but without transparency in the pricing Hospitality Ulster will continue to call for a Westminster inquiry.

We must be convinced that pubs in Northern Ireland are not excluded from discounts of up to  30 percent that are available to their counterparts in every other part of the UK, provided they are situated far enough from an urban area, or indeed if food is a major part of their revenue.

The question for Sky is why this is the case? We need transparency and fair play, something that Northern Ireland MPs also called for late last month.’"