Following significant falls in revenue and profits, ITV is seeking to renegotiate its contract with the Football Association. Both ITV and the cable channel Setanta, which between them have a £425m deal for live FA Cup and England internationals, are seeking to ‘share the pain’ of worsening advertising revenues. Setanta lost half of its Premiership portfolio in last month’s renewal auction and is looking to renegotiate all sorts of rights deals.
Following significant falls in revenue and profits, ITV is seeking to renegotiate its contract with the Football Association. Both ITV and the cable channel Setanta, which between them have a £425m deal for live FA Cup and England internationals, are seeking to ‘share the pain’ of worsening advertising revenues. Setanta lost half of its Premiership portfolio in last month’s renewal auction and is looking to renegotiate all sorts of rights deals. It pays £125m for its share in the rights deal and has exercised a contractual right to delay a £10m instalment as it ‘sorts out its business model’. ITV has not withheld any payments, but is seeking to spread the payments, which are currently weighted towards the earlier part of the contract, so that the bulk would come when the recession’s worst effects might have receded. This is the first time that football has been faced with the prospect of a loss of cash flow from a broadcasting contract since the onset of the recession.