President of the Union of European Football Associations Michel Platini has announced that all 53 EUFA members have signed an agreement to centralize the television rights for European Championship and World Cup qualifiers. Platini said in a statement on Tuesday that the new system will benefit all parties, and make financial planning much easier.
Under the present system, each UEFA member negotiates its own television rights for home games, but with the new approach the sale of rights will supposedly guarantee revenue for all the individual Federations. It is also expected to generate around £100 million for the FA over the next four years.
General Secretary for FA Alex Horne told the UEFA Congress in Paris that the FA had considered the move very carefully and he believes it to be a good deal for England. He said that with the centralized sale England will get more for its international rights than under the current set-up. The FA is still in debt from the construction of Wembley, and they are counting on television revenue to help balance the books.
As of 2014, the EUFA will begin marketing the collective rights to qualifiers in four-year cycles. England currently has four-year contracts with ITV and ESPN, but they are not for the same four years. Therefore the FA will try to synchronize them by selling a two-year deal to either ITV or BBC so they can market FA Cup rights concurrently with EUFA’s sale of international rights.
According to Michel Platini, the change in marketing approach will lessen the dependence of the smaller national associations on the luck of the draw. Under the current system they have to hope they draw a big name that will boost revenues. Hopefully the change will level the playing field.