Door Opens For Pay-tv Wimbledon Deal?

The BBC has reportedly held talks about allowing pay television to share its rights to screen Wimbledon tennis matches live, after the corporation’s commercial executives floated the prospect of sharing the live broadcasts with BT, according to media reports, although Wimbledon have played down any talk of a new split deal. 

The Times newspaper writes that ‘industry sources’ have suggested a deal could take place – which would bring the prestigious tournament to pay-TV subscribers in Britain for the first time – although neither the BBC or BT have commented on the prospect of sharing Wimbledon rights.

However, Wimbledon moved swiftly on Tuesday morning to dispel any suggestions that some early-round matches could be restricted to pay-per-view television channels. Sources at the All England Club quickly pointed out that any decisions about how the matches are broadcast, and on which platforms, are down to how the tournament chooses to sell its rights.

According to the Telegraph, The All England Club is ‘completely unaware of any move’ and would ultimately have the final say on whether it would accept such a proposal.

A Wimbledon spokesman told Sportsmail: ‘Wimbledon has always had a good relationship with the BBC and has a contract with them until 2017. There has definitely not been any contact with BT.’

The BBC has been Wimbledon’s exclusive broadcaster in Britain for nearly 80 years, but potential cuts to its licence fee in the next round of funding negotiations in 2016 could lead to possible savings being required.

Wimbledon, currently a listed event and therefore protected by legislation under broadcast regulations, must have the finals weekend shown on free-to-air television, but rules do not rule out a share deal with a pay-tv partner. The remaining matches could be shown live on a subscription-only channel, provided highlights remained free-to-air.

The other listed events include the Olympic Games, football’s World Cup and European Championship, the FA Cup and Scottish Cup finals, the Grand National and the Derby, the Rugby World Cup final and Rugby League Challenge Cup final.

Free-to-air highlights must also be shown for cricket Tests in England, all other Rugby World Cup matches, Six Nations matches involving home countries, the Commonwealth Games, World Athletics Championships, the Cricket World Cup final, semi-final and matches involving home countries, Ryder Cup golf, and the The Open.

The two networks already share coverage of the FA Cup and this year began jointly broadcasting the UK’s pre-Wimbledon grass-court events, including Aegon tournaments at Queen’s and Eastbourne. Their latest joint venture was announced last week when BT obtained a share of the rights to next month’s BDO World Professional Darts Championship.

The current Wimbledon contract expires in 2017, with any possible broadcast changes likely to be discussed in the next round of negotiations.

The BBC is also at risk of losing highlights of Premier League football during the broadcast rights auction that went out to tender on Friday, with ITV understood to be preparing a bid to challenge Match of the Day once again.