Tenders Invited for FA Rights

LONDON, August 31: The U.K.’s Football Association has
issued a tender invitation to content platforms worldwide for the broadcast
rights to the FA Cup and England international matches, among others, for a
four-year period from 2008 to 2012.

The FA recently concluded a £425-million deal with ITV and
Setanta in the U.K., a 42-percent increase over the previous contract. The FA
is seeking substantially higher increases in international markets. “FA content
is strong in all territories and we’re seeing real demand from both incumbent
broadcast partners wishing to retain the rights but also from new entrants,” Stuart
Turner, the head of broadcast and new media at The FA, told World Screen
Newsflash. “The way that we’ve packaged the rights across individual platforms
has given new bidders impetus and incentive to bid. The Asian, Middle East and
North American markets are key for us as well as maintaining good coverage in
markets nearer to home, such as Scandinavia.”

The new tender offer covers the rights to The FA Cup, FA
Community Shield and other FA competitions, as well as England Senior and Under
21 matches. There are two packages of live games (covering The FA Cup and the
England team) and two delayed rights packages, which include highlights and
various clip and edit rights. All rights will be available for traditional
broadcast, Internet and mobile use. All bids must be received by midday U.K.
time on September 28.