EU threatens 'seismic' TV rights changes

The gulf between the Premiership's top clubs and the rest of English football could widen if the European Union outlaw the way sports sell their television rights.

Despite the Premier League's victory over the Office of Fair Trading in July 1999, football is once again bracing itself for a challenge, this time from Europe's competition authorities.

A group of representatives from UEFA, European football's governing body, and Europe's top leagues were meeting with Euro MPs and TV executives to discuss the threat in Brussels today.

Having failed in their bid to scrap the international transfer system, some British Euro MPs fear commissioners could now be turning their attention to TV rights.

If the present system of collective selling was ruled illegal, it would lead to dramatic changes within football with bigger clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal free to sell their rights on an individual basis.

Smaller sides would lose out as the giants cash in on the greater demand for their games.

But Premier League chief spokesman Phil French, part of the English delegation in Belgium alongside Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, played down fears saying that today's meeting was little more than a "talking shop".

He added: "At this stage there is no big investigation or presentation of evidence. It's a conference set up by some MEPs to discuss what would be a worse case scenario."

From next season the Premier League's new three-year media rights deal will earn their 20 members at least £20m each a season from TV rights alone.

However, if the principle of "central marketing" was scrapped that would create a huge imbalance between clubs. It would also potentially hit other sports which sell their rights in the same way, such as Formula One, cricket and rugby.

According to Euro-MP Glyn Ford the threat is the next "seismic shock" threatening sport.

He said: "With transfer fees out of the way, TV sports rights are next on the EU agenda.

"The battle over football transfers pales in comparison to the money at stake from TV sports rights.

"Small clubs and supporters could fare badly in a battle to carve up the TV rights. We must protect their interests and make our case heard at the highest levels.

"When the EU investigated the transfer system, many of the key players did not engage in the debate until a very late stage, by which time many important decisions had already been made.

"This time we want players, clubs, broadcasters and supporters to get involved early - when they can shape the outcome."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in