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#125m Sky deal raises fears of monopoly
By Christopher Davies
IN A further blow to viewers of terrestrial channels, satellite
television yesterday claimed the rights
to the Endsleigh League and Coca-Cola Cup.
Sky took a further step towards a monopoly of English football when the
Football League agreed a
five-year deal worth a total of #125 million to broadcast Endsleigh and
Coca-Cola Cup games
previously shown by ITV.
Next season the satellite station will televise live the Premiership,
Endsleigh, Coca-Cola Cup and
FA Cup from round one until the final plus England internationals at
Wembley; the BBC will
broadcast from the third round of the FA Cup, including the final, with
all three channels bidding for
European ties.
The BBC will still have Match of the Day while ITV can show recordings
of Football League
competitions, but Sky are slowly but surely becoming the paymasters of
English football.
While the sport benefits financially it will raise the question of
whether the national game should be
available to all or just those who can afford Sky.
There was jubilation at Lytham St Annes as they celebrated the contract
that raises income from
television from #8 million to #25 million per annum. "We understand the
anxiety of having to buy a
dish but what was the choice?" said Lee Walker, who brokered the
Football League's record deal.
"If we do not get sufficient money there may not be clubs to watch. We
may be accused of taking the
30 pieces of silver but without the Sky deal it would be a contributory
factor towards clubs possibly
going to the wall."
The First Division clubs will be given the giant share of the deal
The Football League deal covers the screening of up to 60 live
Endsleigh matches per season from
the start of 1996-97. All three end-of-season Wembley play-offs will be
shown live.
Sky will also show League Cup ties live from the first round for the
first time.
On Nov 10 the Football League's 72 chairmen deferred a decision on the
Football Association deal
worth #120 million - a deal the FA then withdrew. Walker was then able
to open negotiations with
Sky on an exclusive basis and all that remains is for the League clubs
to agree at a meeting on Dec
29 how the money should be split.
The Football League claim the new Sky deal is worth more than the FA's
offer, not least because
they will have more control of commercial rights.
The First Division clubs will be given the giant share of the deal -
around #1 million per club per
season - in an effort to stave off the continued threat of a breakaway
to a Premier League II.
Clubs in the Second and Third Divisions will receive an increase to
around #200,000 but Gordon
McKeag, the League's president, said: "This agreement is the most
important ever secured by the
Football League and assures us of our autonomy."
As news of the Football League's deal was announced there were rumours
that ITV were making a
big play for the FA Cup final. The 1996 and 1997 finals are covered by
the current FA agreement
and will be shown on the BBC, but ITV would love to show the season's
finale again.
A #15 million-plus Budget windfall will help clubs implement the
recommendations of the Taylor
Report on stadium safety. Chancellor Kenneth Clarke yesterday announced
a five per cent reduction
in pools betting duty, to be followed by a further one per cent cut in
May, provided pools companies
pass on the extra benefit to be shared equally between the Football
Trust and the Foundation for
Sport and the Arts.
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| EU Plan: TV Sports For All
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose
this week changing EU law to make sure everyone can see live
TV coverage of major sporting events
like soccer's World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Under a proposed amendment to the EU's so-called "television
without frontiers" law, pay TV channels like BSkyB and Canal
Plus would still be able to buy
exclusive rights to sports events. But they would have to
respect laws laid down in individual EU countries saying
specified events must be broadcast free either
uncoded or on a non-pay channel.
"The rules concern not the acquisition, but the use of the
rights," said one EU official. "The main objective is to ensure
that events of major importance for society
are on the clear (non-encrypted) television and not pay
television."
Last July, for example, Germany's Kirch group won a bidding
battle for television rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup
Soccer Finals.
The move, which EU officials say is backed by most member
states, responds to European Parliament demands that the
right of rich and poor alike to watch big
sports events should be protected. Under the proposal
broadcasters would have to respect national lists of important
sporting events and show them uncoded.
EU officials said that even in cases where national law obliged
the pay TV stations to show the events free, they would still
get the benefit from advertising and
sponsorship.
They could also sell the events to other TV channels in the
country concerned, they said.
Reuters/Variety
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| > Last July, for example, Germany's Kirch group won a bidding
> battle for television rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup
> Soccer Finals.
Mmmm, and I wonder why UEFA are backing Germany for the FIFA World
Cup...ah the it seems the power of the DM is showing through ...
Dezzz.
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