BBC to tackle ITV and Sky to win Champions League

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 26-Feb-08, 09:00

LONDON - The BBC is prepared to outbid ITV and BSkyB for the right to broadcast Champions League football, even though it may face having to placate the six main tournament sponsors.

The Champions League is currently aired by Sky and ITV, which are obliged to carry ads from all six sponsors for free at the beginning and end of each break, worth between £5m and £10m in total each year.

The BBC, which is not allowed to show advertising as part of its licence fee arrangement, could be forced to pay extra for the rights to mitigate the loss of advertising exposure for the brands or by ensuring their logos are prominently displayed during games.

Uefa, European football's governing body and the organiser of the Champions League, could rake in about £125m a year for the next three-year package, which begins in 2009.

The BBC is under pressure to revive its ailing sports coverage as it faces life without any live top-flight football coverage. The BBC lost the rights to England internationals and the FA Cup in a fierce bidding war with ITV and Setanta, with the competitions being shared by the broadcasters from next season.

The move leaves the BBC's expensive line-up of pundits, who include Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer among them, with only its football highlights package show, 'Match of the Day', to present.

The BBC is expected to face rivalry from Setanta, the sports broadcaster, but Virgin Media is thought to have ruled itself out of the running, as it concentrates on investing money in its broadband offering.

Bids for the Champions League rights are due in on March 12, which may be followed by several subsequent rounds of bidding. A final deadline has not been announced.

ITV is reported to have paid £42m a year and Sky £47m for Champions League rights, which can earn broadcasters big audiences for mid-week matches involving English clubs.

ITV1 pulled in more than 6m viewers and a 24% share last week, well above its slot average on Tuesday evenings, for Liverpool's 2-0 defeat of Italian club Internazionale of Milan.