BBC Radio scores football rights win

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BBC Radio is set to hold on to its exclusive rights to broadcast FA Cup and England football matches for the next four seasons.

The corporation is thought to have paid around £1.5m and is expected to announce a deal in the next couple of weeks.

Although it is unclear how many other broadcasters were chasing the rights, Talk Sport confirmed to Broadcast that it had been in the bidding.
The deal allows the BBC - usually Radio 5 Live - exclusive radio coverage of all England matches, both friendlies and competitive internationals, plus FA Cup football for the next four years.

England internationals are played throughout the year while FA Cup coverage runs from January to the final in May. The BBC declined to comment.

United Radio Consultants chief executive Mark Briggs said the only way the commercial sector could seriously compete with the BBC going forward was to co-operate as a network. "One or two broadcasters against the BBC will never work," he said. "Instead they could pool their resources and bid more effectively. The only problem is FM stations are historically musical and regional stations and would prefer match reports than wholesale commentary. Then on AM the only real choice is Talk Sport."

Radio Centre chief executive Andrew Harrison questioned whether the BBC was overpaying for the rights by bidding around £1.5m. "That old question comes up: is that good use of public money?"

In late 2004, Ofcom launched an investigation into the FA's exclusive deal with the BBC for radio coverage of FA Cup matches after a complaint from Talk Sport. However, the regulator closed the case because it said there was "limited interest" in games other than the seven per round the BBC was allowed to broadcast under the terms of the deal.