MPs: don't free up soccer broadcast rights

A group of MPs has urged the UK Government to "use all its influence" in Europe to block the freeing up of football broadcast rights that would have a big impact on pubs.

The Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee feared the impact on smaller football clubs in particular if the European Court of Justice (ECJ) backs Hampshire licensee Karen Murphy, who is appealing against her conviction for screening football via a foreign satellite decoder.

In February, an influential advisor to the ECJ, advocate general Juliane Kokott, supported the view that decoder card suppliers should not be restricted to single territories.

The view, if supported by ECJ judges, is likely to have huge implications for the future of live football in pubs, with many believing it could ultimately see subscription fees fall as Sky's dominance of screening rights is eroded.

The committee of MPs addressed the issue in its report into football governance. The report was released at the end of July but its comments on broadcast rights have largely gone unreported.

"The ECJ's preliminary opinion with regard to the selling of broadcast rights within Europe poses a grave risk to the sustainability of clubs throughout the football pyramid. We urge the Government to use all its influence within the EU to retain the territorial selling of overseas rights," the report says.

Knock-on effect​

It says one "potential knock-on effect" of Kokott's view becoming law would be that the blackout on games being screened at 3pm on Saturdays, the 'closed period', could be "breached on a weekly basis".

"Although the change proposed by the advocate general might increase viewing choice for some viewers (for example, those currently deprived of viewing options at 3pm on a Saturday), it could equally diminish choice for others (for example, if their territory was no longer served by a discrete package).

"While change would benefit some commercial operators (for example, pubs showing games using foreign decoders), such benefits would be at the expense of the creative rights holders — the Premier League. Given our interest in the sustainability of the game, we give considerable weight to the concerns of the Football League."

Interpretation​

However, Peter Coulson, legal editor of M&C Report's sister title Publican's Morning Advertiser, queried the MPs' interpretation of the situation.

He believes that, regardless of what the ECJ rules on broadcast rights, the closed period, as a directive from European football's governing body UEFA, would still apply.

It's also questionable how much influence the UK Government would have in the case at this stage, seeing as it's a judicial ruling rather than a political decision.

The ECJ ruling is due on 4 October.