ESPN wins FA Cup rights 08/12/2009 |
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ESPN is thought to have beaten the BBC to the rights to show live FA Cup football from next season following the collapse of Setanta.
The Guardian reports that ESPN’s bid, which was apparently 60 per cent higher than the BBC’s, was approved at a Football Association board meeting yesterday (Dec 7).
It would be a vital win for ESPN, which will have the number of Premier League games it has rights to halved to 23 from next season.
The American broadcaster will share the FA Cup rights with ITV, which is mid-way through a £275m deal to show FA Cup and England games.
Former FA chief executive Brian Barwick originally chose a £425m deal with ITV and Setanta over a bid from the BBC and Sky, but Setanta collapsed in June one year into its £150m four-year contract.
With much of the BBC’s sports rights budget going on Formula One and ITV understood to be concerned about sharing the rights with another terrestrial broadcaster, ESPN’s proposal was reportedly more attractive to the FA.
ITV will have first pick of matches but ESPN will show two live games per round and have joint rights to the final from the start of next season as part of a rumoured four-year deal. Until then, the FA will continue to sell ITV one extra game per round and broadcast one free on the internet.
The Guardian said that the FA refused to comment and ESPN would say only that it “continued to be interested in all rights where they are available and where they fit our business model”.
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