11 July was the deadline for receipt of broadcaster responses to the Football Association Premier League’s (FAPL’s) invitation to tender for the UK broadcasting rights to Premier League matches for 2004-07. Nowhere was this more eagerly awaited than in the offices of the 20 FAPL clubs, whose occupants are constantly under siege by their shareholders, their bankers and their ambitious and demanding fans.
The tender process has been overshadowed not only by fears about the recessionary trends in the sports rights market, but also by the European Commission’s (EC’s) investigation into whether the traditional model for sales of FAPL broadcasting rights infringes EC competition law. However, having made limited concessions to the regulators by increasing the number of rights packages, particularly live matches, available for purchase, the Premier League will be hopeful that the EC’s legal objections can be sidestepped without doing serious damage to the value of the rights.
