Bt Sport Snaps Up Non-league Football Rights

Up to 30 live Football Conference games could be screened by BT Sport next season, after the Non-League Paper reported that the new sports channel has agreed a six-figure deal to showcase the top flight of non-league football.

According to media reports, a £300,000 agreement has been reached between BT Sport and the Football Conference, under which the telecoms giant will broadcast games live on BT Sport and also stream them online.

The contract permits BT to screen between 25 and 30 live games during the 2013/14 season, but this number could be increased from 2014/15 onwards.

By teaming up with the telecommunications giant, the Conference effectively ends a three-year relationship with Premier Sports, which has paid £6,000 for each live fixture it showed since 2010.

Quoted by the Non-League Paper, Conference chairman Brian Lee said the agreement was just the news the league wanted.

Lee continued: ‘We have had a good relationship with Premier Sports. They have given the league fantastic coverage but we’ve got to look at this from a business point of view – we will be going from a possible audience of 6,500 to one much nearer 6,500,000. That’s the reality of the situation.’

‘This will allow us further opportunities in the future which we are excited about. There could be more games to come the season after and if it’s a success there is the chance for an improved agreement further down the line.’

‘The Football Conference will sit alongside the Premier League and the Bundesliga – and that to me is a big thing. We’ll be getting high-level exposure, BT have gone into this in a big way. It’s exciting.’

The Conference is currently looking for a title sponsor to replace the outgoing Blue Square, who was subject to a £5 million takeover by Betfair in April, leaving both the Football League and Football Conference without a headline sponsor for the 2013/14 season.

BT Sport officially unveiled its new TV channels earlier this month, click here for the full lineup.