ONdigital and ITV win football league and worthington cup rights from 2001
16th June 2000
ONdigital, the digital terrestrial and interactive services platform, and ITV have won the exclusive rights to broadcast the Football League's live Pay, Pay per View and free-to air matches for three years. The contract is worth £315 million, plus a share of the pay-per-view revenues.
ONdigital, the digital terrestrial and interactive services platform, and ITV have won the exclusive rights to broadcast the Football League's live Pay, Pay per View and free-to air matches for three years. The contract is worth £315 million, plus a share of the pay-per-view revenues.
ONdigital will be the lead broadcaster and will show each season a minimum of 88 First, Second and Third Division and Worthington Cup matches on pay TV as well as showing pay-per-view Football League matches. ITV and the ITV regions will broadcast live 15 regional matches, and will show nationally the final play-off for promotion to the Premier League and one semi-final and the final of the Worthington Cup.
Stuart Prebble, ONdigital's Chief Executive says:
This is fantastic news. We have succeeded in beating off strong competition from Sky to break their stranglehold over live pay TV football. We will build a major premium sports channel with live Football League, Worthington Cup and UEFA Champions League football and the Men's ATP Tennis Masters as a tremendous foundation.
Our viewers will be able to see all the pay and pay-per-view matches from both the Premier League and Nationwide League. Unlike satellite viewers they can also get ITV programming in digital widescreen and will, with the sports coverage of British Eurosport, and Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3, have access to more sport than the viewers of any other platform.
The coverage that we and ITV have proposed will significantly enhance the way that the Football League and the Worthington Cup are presented. We intend to make the Football League a much more attractive proposition than it has been so far and, with our partnership with ITV Sport, to bring live regional League football to TV for the first time.
We will bring the expertise we have demonstrated in our Champions League coverage to League football. Football League clubs produce the most exciting football in Britain. It is the heart and soul of football and reaches every home in the country. We intend to raise its profile and bring this great football to millions more viewers. The Worthington Cup, too, deserves wider exposure than it has had in recent years. We and ITV will make sure that it gets it.
Brian Barwick Controller of ITV Sport says:
It's been quite a week for ITV Sport! This deal gives ITV a fantastic treble; the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League highlights and now, with ONdigital the Football League and the Worthington Cup. ITV's unique regional character makes us the perfect terrestrial partner for the Football League.
ONdigital expects to use the facilities of ITV, ISN and Carlton 021 to produce the programmes.