FA to restructure TV deal

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The Football Association is considering not renewing the comprehensive TV rights deal with German based sports marketing agency ISPR, and instead deal directly with the TV channels. The FA, which came in for criticism last year as ISPR sold the broadcasting-rights to pay-per-view channels, hopes that such move would scientifically increase its EU10m a-year TV income, as has proved the case in Norway.

“It appears we’re going to do direct deals with the TV channels over the rights. It was five years ago that we made the last deal. And for sure the price has gone up since then”, FA chairman Lars-Ake Lagrell commented to media. “We’re aware of the critics. Still, you have to look at the whole picture. SVT (state channels) and TV4 (free-TV) still have the rights to show highlights,” he added.

Lagrell confirmed that ISPR, formerly part of the Kirch media group and currently owned by Hamburg-based sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE, which cooperate with the FA for over a decade, will still be a part of Swedish football in the new contract. “They do a lot of good things that viewers don‘t even know anything about. On the international market they are very good, selling the national team’s games to rival TV-channels,” he said.