FA sold English football to UEFA... 30 pieces of silver?

[WhiteJC]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1368769/Footballl-Association-hands-England-TV-rights-UEFA.html?

FA could net £100m after handing over England TV rights to UEFA

The Football Association have agreed to sign over their television rights for England's international qualifiers for UEFA to sell.

The European governing body have now agreed with all 53 member associations of UEFA to collectively sell the TV rights for qualifying matches for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.

FA general secretary Alex Horne said the deal with UEFA guaranteed television income that was more than they had expected.


Screen stars: England's TV rights will now be handled by UEFA

Horne, speaking at the UEFA Congress in Paris, said: 'We thought it through long and hard and we have got a good deal for ourselves out of it. It is higher than the current valuation of our rights.

'We have gone into this with our eyes wide open. It is a creative idea and we believe it will work.'

The deal was only struck over the weekend and according to reports will guarantee the FA around £100million over four years.

Details surrounding the sale of FA Cup rights have yet to be finalised but it is expected they will be sold in parallel with the England rights to try to ensure they do not lose their value.


Future plans: Michel Platini delivers his speech at the 35th UEFA congress

The FA's last four-year England and FA Cup TV package signed in 2008 was worth £575million but the collapse of Setanta led to a cut in the overall value.

UEFA president Michel Platini said centralising the match rights was 'essential'.

He told the Congress: 'It is a project aimed, above all, at protecting and developing national team football.

'And, what is more, the knock-on effect will be guaranteed revenue for each association.

'You will therefore all be able to concentrate on the football, without having to worry what the draws might throw up and whether their outcome will be favourable - or not - in terms of TV rights.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1368769/Footballl-Association-hands-England-TV-rights-UEFA.html#ixzz1HKs5wnQe

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I am not really sure what this means for the fans, more or less likely to watch qualifiers on terrestrial?

[The Doctor]

Out of interest, are international qualifiers covered by that bit of UK legislation that preserves certain sporting events on non-subscription TV or is that just finals?  As things stand, ITV have home England rights and Sky show the away games (and maybe friendlies?).  If UEFA simply sell to the highest bidder, I'd imagine that Sky will just steamroller anyone else's bid.

Not that I'll be subscribing anyway if they do (sorry Rupert  :59:), just curious

[MJG]

I rarely watch an England game now anyway.

We all know what happens:
-We qualify for the WC or Euro's (watch games on ITV or BBC)
-The team gets hyped up and we all stick a flag on our car
-We lose to Germany.
-Too much football gets the blame.

Same story, repeat every two years 

[FC Silver Fox]

As a position of principle, I believe that any official sporting fixture, regardless of the sport, where our national team is playing, belongs to all the people of this country and should be made available to everybody at no cost. The national team doesn't belong to the FA or any other sporting governing body. It is not for sale.

"Never, in the field of sporting conflict....."

Right I'll get off my soap box.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

As a position of principle, I believe that any official sporting fixture, regardless of the sport, where our national team is playing, belongs to all the people of this country and should be made available to everybody at no cost. The national team doesn't belong to the FA or any other sporting governing body. It is not for sale.

"Never, in the field of sporting conflict....."

Right I'll get off my soap box.

It is an interesting argument - who 'owns' the national team?

The FA are self appointed idiots who seem to think they do.