Virgin Media has called on the media regulator Ofcom to investigate the spiralling cost of Premier League football rights, warning of “significant consumer harm” if the escalation continues unchecked.

The cable TV group, owned by US media mogul John Malone’s Liberty Global, said fans were being asked to pay over the odds to watch live football and claimed changes to increase competition following a 10-year-old European Commission investigation had failed to work.

It said a 60% increase was predicted on the £3bn deal struck with BSkyB and BT two years ago, with armchair football fans in the UK already having to pay three times more than for other top leagues in Europe.

Ofcom said it was considering the request for an investigation, with a response likely within the next two months before the next Premier League rights sale in 2015.

Virgin Media, which has found itself squeezed in the fierce competition between BSkyB and BT, has already said it would not bid in the next Premier League rights auction but could benefit from cheaper wholesale prices if the rising cost of rights was checked.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Media said: “The rapidly rising cost of Premier League live broadcast rights means UK fans pay the highest prices in Europe to watch football on TV.

“Virgin Media has asked Ofcom to investigate how the rights are sold ahead of the next auction.”

The company said “targeted changes” in the way live rights were sold could bring an end to the escalating cost of live Premier League rights.

It pointed to leagues including Germany, Spain and Italy, where 100% of the top tier’s games were made available for live broadcast, many of them on a non-exclusive basis.

In the UK, under the last rights deal, only 41% of Premier League games were up for grabs, although the league has an agreement, supported by the government, that it does not broadcast games at the traditional (but now less common) Saturday afternoon kick-off time of 3pm to protect attendances.

Such a change would be little short of a revolution for the Premier League, which last sold its rights in seven different packages of either 12 or 26 matches with no single broadcaster permitted to own all seven.

In the last three-year deal running from the 2013-14 season, Sky bought 116 matches and BT 38, generating record income of £3bn, up 71% on the previous deal.

The next Premier League tender is expected to go out in the new year with the next set of three-year deals announced before the end of the season.

The Premier League has not yet put out an invitation for tender for the next set of rights, so it remains to be seen how many games will be made available and how they will be divided up. However, the likelihood is that it will mirror the current arrangements

The last deal in 2012 was the first to fall outside of the agreement drawn up following the Brussels intervention but retained one of the key points of the European ruling, with no single broadcaster allowed to buy all of the rights.

Virgin Media, which called on Ofcom to open up a formal investigation under the 1998 Competition Act, said a review was required with the next auction imminent and analysts predicting a further 60% hike.

European Union rules allow Premier League clubs’ collective negotiation of broadcasting rights on the grounds it encourages competition and increases the number of games available.

But Virgin Media told Ofcom that UK viewers were still unable to watch the majority of matches live on TV. It said the rivalry between BT and Sky had not forced down prices because they were not seen as alternatives, with the lion’s share of games still on Sky and not available elsewhere.

The lowest retail price to watch all the available matches on UK television was £51, according to Virgin Media, compared with £25 in Italy, £21 in Germany and £18 in Spain.

The company filed its complaint with Ofcom two weeks ago and a decision is expected in late October or early November

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Ofcom can confirm that Virgin Media has submitted a competition complaint about the Premier League. We are considering the complaint, before deciding whether any further action is required.”

In a statement, a Premier League spokesman said: “Live Premier League audio-visual rights have always been sold in a transparent and open process.

“Regulators have examined our rights packaging and sales process in considerable detail in the past and found both of them to be compliant with UK and European competition law.

“If Ofcom chooses to investigate this complaint, we will of course be happy to demonstrate to Ofcom that this is the case.”

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