BBC and BT win FA Cup rights

BT Group’s new TV service has won a joint bid with the BBC to screen FA Cup football matches in the UK up to 2018. The winning bids are estimated to have cost close to £50m a year.

BT sports has exclusive rights to show 25 live matches annually, with the BBC gaining exclusive coverage of 16 games a year. The broadcasters had competed against a joint bid from BSkyB and ITV. However, ITV has found the FA Cup a less attractive means of pulling in advertisers than some other sports coverage.

BT Group’s new TV service has won a joint bid with the BBC to screen FA Cup football matches in the UK up to 2018. The winning bids are estimated to have cost close to £50m a year.

BT sports has exclusive rights to show 25 live matches annually, with the BBC gaining exclusive coverage of 16 games a year. The broadcasters had competed against a joint bid from BSkyB and ITV. However, ITV has found the FA Cup a less attractive means of pulling in advertisers than some other sports coverage.

Brand Driver rates the FA Cup as the second most popular competition among UK sports fans, with two-thirds of those questioned saying they were interested in the matches. It scored more highly than Champions League football, Wimbledon and Formula One.