SportBusiness.com

English FA sign TV deal

The English Football Association has confirmed a new domestic TV agreement for England internationals and FA Cup games.

The deal once again sees free-to-air broadcaster the BBC share coverage with pay-TV platform Sky - but does not include new media or overseas rights.

The BBC and Sky have agreed to release previously withheld new media rights to the FA as part of the new arrangements. These will now form part of the FA's tender for new media rights which is due to be released shortly.

Although the FA has not revealed the cost of the deal, it has been widely speculated to be in the region of £250-300m over four-years.

The last three-year deal was worth around £345m, but included new media and overseas TV rights.

The deal - which also includes the FA Charity Shield and other FA events - will see all England senior home internationals, friendly and competitive, broadcast exclusively live on the BBC.

Previously, Sky covered friendlies, while the BBC showed competitive games.

Three FA Cup matches per round, in rounds three-to-six, will be live on BBC (choices one, three and four), with a further live match (choice two) to be shown live on Sky Sports.

The BBC and Sky Sports will broadcast one live match each in FA Cup rounds one and two.

The BBC will also provide live coverage of the first choice FA Cup semi-final, while the other semi will be shown live on Sky Sports.

Other key parts of the deal will see:

* The FA Cup Final will be live on both BBC and Sky Sports;
* The FA Cup replays (first choice) will be live on BBC, with live coverage on Sky Sports for the second choice replay;

* The FA Community Shield, live on Sky Sports;

* The FA Women's Cup Final, live on BBC;

* Senior England women's team home matches will be live on Sky Sports;
* The Women's Premier League Cup Final, live on Sky Sports;

* All home England Under-21 matches, live on Sky Sports;

* England Under-19 and below home matches, live on Sky Sports;
* The FA Youth Challenge Cup Final (both first and second legs), live on Sky Sports;

* The FA Trophy Final, live on Sky Sports.

The new contract period covers the entire 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA 2008 European Championship qualifying campaigns, as well as the opening period for the new national stadium at Wembley.

Said the FA's new chief executive, Mark Palios: "We are delighted to be renewing our partnerships with both BBC and BSkyB. The deal is an important step in the process of providing financial stability to the FA. It also enables much greater access to top quality football for an even larger number of people."

Added Paul Barber, the FA's director of marketing & communications: "Today's announcement, which confirms that all England's home matches will be seen live on terrestrial television, along with the majority of live FA Cup matches, is great news for football fans and for the FA's commercial partners."

The FA will now proceed to the second phase of its media rights tender process with the imminent release of tender documents for overseas
television rights, domestic radio rights and new media rights, including internet and 3G packages.