Champions/Europa League Rights

[Steve Williams]

A bit of push back from the EFL on the BBC paying £20m for these but not bidding for their own £500k a year rights.

If the EFL are that concerned about profile and public service, that must be a different EFL from the one that sold their rights to Quest.

If part of the requirement for the contract was that they wanted it to be at 9pm then that immediately rules out the Beeb as they already have another football contract that is in that slot, a bit more important as well. And it doesn't matter how much it costs, it depends what you're getting from it. I think it was accepted that the Beeb were getting the rights for 2012-15 for a negligible price but it was still not cost-effective because of the requirements to film and distribute the goals and still show them after Sky had.

The Beeb are doing plenty for the lower leagues in the FA Cup, including the qualifying rounds which no other broadcaster touches with a bargepole. And a broadcaster only interested in the big names would not currently be showing women's football on primetime BBC1 five nights out of six.

[tellyblues]

The Beeb are doing plenty for the lower leagues in the FA Cup, including the qualifying rounds which no other broadcaster touches with a bargepole. And a broadcaster only interested in the big names would not currently be showing women's football on primetime BBC1 five nights out of six.

That's partly because there is a lack of content at the moment. It's perhaps just as well because much of the stuff that BBC1 has commissioned recently has rated terribly.

[BcastCornwall]

Comment heard,

BBC Highlights package MIGHT start a season earlier in 2023-4 if discussions come to fruition.

[Brekkie]

The Beeb are doing plenty for the lower leagues in the FA Cup, including the qualifying rounds which no other broadcaster touches with a bargepole. And a broadcaster only interested in the big names would not currently be showing women's football on primetime BBC1 five nights out of six.

That's partly because there is a lack of content at the moment. It's perhaps just as well because much of the stuff that BBC1 has commissioned recently has rated terribly.

It seems to get bumped up rather than bumped down if BBC2 have other commitments.   How has it rated the last three nights?

[Steve Williams]

It seems to get bumped up rather than bumped down if BBC2 have other commitments.   How has it rated the last three nights?

England did alright, Northern Ireland didn't do much, don't know about the all-foreign one last night. But they could easily have shown repeats of Death in Paradise or The Repair Shop and got higher ratings, and they didn't.

[Jeff]

A bit of push back from the EFL on the BBC paying £20m for these but not bidding for their own £500k a year rights.

If the EFL are that concerned about profile and public service, that must be a different EFL from the one that sold their rights to Quest.

It's certainly a different EFL from the one that recognised the value of (despite the late timeslot) having its highlights air straight after MOTD and benefiting from the significant lead-in it provides.

[RR]

If the EFL are that concerned about profile and public service, that must be a different EFL from the one that sold their rights to Quest.

Did they have much of a choice? Channel 5 who were the only previous bidders pulled out. Given the small amount of money that the terrestrial rights bring - less than £500,000 per year per that report - extent of coverage will be the only deciding factor.

[mccanmat]

Sour grapes by EFL. BBC are not obliged to bid for every sports rights going - they probably wonder how they justify such a spend for a programme that will be on BBC One at close to midnight - can’t imagine if BBC spent £500,000 for rights to a film they then decide to only show it past midnight.

[Steve Williams]

Sour grapes by EFL. BBC are not obliged to bid for every sports rights going - they probably wonder how they justify such a spend for a programme that will be on BBC One at close to midnight - can’t imagine if BBC spent £500,000 for rights to a film they then decide to only show it past midnight.

Well, one other point is that the Beeb are already quite busy most weekends, with the Premier League and also the WSL where they have a live game most weekends. So if they got the EFL rights as well it would just be more football to squeeze in and they wouldn't be able to give it the prominence that the EFL would probably want, so it probably would be poor value for money. Whereas they have much less football in midweek, so the Champions League fits much better.

[DE88]

Ah, the Mail having another pop at the Beeb.

Not that I'm saying that no-one should ever read this paper or link to its articles on here, of course. Indeed, even I have to say that its puzzle section is the best out of any paper...

Anyway, back on topic - while this will be the first time the Beeb have shown CL highlights, it actually *won't* be the first time they've broadcast the CL in any way (since the rebrand from the European Cup in '92), as they showed the '94 final live:

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6e9d85f43b8b...7467881849

[Rdd]

Very very technical (possibly pedantic!) point here but wasn’t that 1994 final during the very early era when the Champions League branding only applied to the group stage (and indeed, actually the very last match that the “European Champion Clubs’ Cup” name was used for)? Only from 1994-95 onward was the whole tournament called the UEFA Champions League. There’s a picture of the match day programme cover on Wikipedia (usual credibility warning applies) in which the text says “39th Final European Champion Clubs Cup” and there is not a starball to be seen.