Pubs welcome shake-up of footy rights

Licensees have welcomed the shake-up of rights over televised football, claiming it is "a move in the right direction".

ITV and Irish broadcaster Setanta's 'Snatch of the Day' saw them secure the rights for the FA Cup and England home internationals as part of a £425m four-year deal.

The deal represents a blow for both Sky and the BBC, which have held the rights to screen the FA Cup since 2001.

James Hilton, licensee at the Horseshoe in Matlock Green, Derbyshire, welcomed the news.

"This is definitely a move in the right direction," he said.

"At the moment Sky is prohibitively expensive for us. If we had it installed we still wouldn't have a prayer of recuperating that.

"It will good to be able to show some more of the major events for free."

Steve Sweeney, who owns two pubs in St Helens, Lancashire, agreed the deal was positive.

"No-one should have a monopoly on football, so this can only be a good thing," he said.

"Sky does a great job with sports coverage, but a lot of people have become disillusioned with football because it's on all the time and doesn't bring in the punters anymore."

The deal with ITV and Setanta means that the FA Cup and England matches will continue to be shown on a mixture of 'free-to-air' and subscription access, with the principal games remaining on free-to-air TV, the FA said.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: "We are delighted with this new deal and are looking forward to our partnership with ITV and Setanta.

"It is very good news for football as the increased revenue will allow the FA to channel more funds back into the game."

Sky declined to comment on the issue.

Last month MP John Grogan urged licensees to contact media regulator Ofcom about Sky's pricing policy after the regulator announced that it will investigate the pay-TV industry.