BBC and Sky have joined BT and ITV in the battle to acquire the rights to the FA Cup.
The four broadcasters have submitted bids for the rights after the Football Association kicked off a competitive tender process in May. The submission for bids closed on Friday.
The move from BBC and Sky follows BT’s decision to bid for the rights, revealed by Broadcast in May.
The invitation to tender covers three seasons of FA Cup games, including 10 FA Cup packages, two highlights packages as well as the Community Shield, The FA Youth Cup and The FA Trophy.
England friendlies, both home and away, are also part of the rights package.
ITV previously acquired free-to-air broadcast rights to 16 FA Cup games per season, as well as England’s home qualifying games and home and away friendlies for £90m in January 2012.
However the new bids could mean the cost of the rights increases.
The battle is the first major football rights battle since BT acquired the rights to a number of Premier League games from August, as well as its purchase of a selection of FA Cup games this season from ESPN.
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