BBC and ITV face fight to keep FA Cup coverage as TNT Sport agree four-year deal from 2025-26 – which will see all games outside the 3pm blackout broadcast live
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The FA Cup will be broadcast by TNT Sport for four years from the 2025/26 season, leaving the BBC and ITV facing a scrap to secure secondary TV rights.
Under the terms of the deal, at least two matches from each round through to the quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final must be shown on free-to-air television, with TNT responsible for reselling the rights to a broadcast partner. .
Industry insiders have told Mail Sport that ITV is favorite to secure land rights due to the BBC’s budgetary constraints and the greater potential they offer for a commercial partnership with TNT, but the process of selling the secondary rights has yet to be completed. a long way to go.
TNT also has its own free-to-air channels that can show FA Cup matches, such as Quest, but securing a deal with a public broadcaster is their preference.
The FA are said to have secured a 15 per cent increase on the current existing joint contract with BBC and ITV by selling the rights to TNT, with the new deal believed to be worth £66 million per year.
TNT Sport has signed a four-year contract with the Football Association to broadcast the FA Cup
The new deal will come into effect from the 2025-2026 campaign and will see more games shown live than before
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham claimed the match was the governing body’s ‘crown jewel’
However, in return for securing an additional £9 million a year, the FA has handed control of the secondary rights process to TNT, which will determine the identity of the free-to-air broadcaster.
The FA’s decision to sell its main asset to a subscription channel after four years of exclusive matches on BBC and ITV came in for some criticism on Thursday, but the mixed model has been the norm for the past three decades.
TNT’s predecessor, BT Sport, shared the rights with the BBC from 2014 to 2021, while other subscription services including Sky Sports, Setanta and ESPN previously held live FA Cup rights.
The FA Cup deal strengthens TNT’s position as major players in football broadcasting, having also renewed their Premier League and Champions League deals in recent years.
The £264m deal is one of the FA’s biggest sources of income, which they use to fund grassroots football and run Wembley and England teams across all age groups.
Another major change is that all FA Cup third round matches that do not start during the Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout will be broadcast live on television.
As part of the deal, TNT has also secured live rights to the Community Shield and the FA Youth Cup final.