UK to expand free-to-watch sporting events
Key Points
- Government to extend "crown jewels" sport protections to on-demand rights
- Listed Events regime currently covers live coverage only
- Government to legislate "when Parliamentary time allows"
- Covers events such as Wimbledon, the FA Cup Final and the Olympics
- Aims to help public service providers compete with global streamers
- Reflects shift towards watching sport on catch-up rather than live
Protections that keep major sporting events free to watch are to be extended to cover on-demand and catch-up coverage, under plans confirmed in the government’s media green paper.
The Listed Events regime, often described as protecting the “crown jewels” of sport, currently guarantees that events such as Wimbledon, the FA Cup Final and the Olympic Games are available to watch live without a subscription. At present, however, the regime applies only to live coverage rights.
The government has confirmed it intends to close that gap in its new media green paper.
The paper states that the regime should be extended so that on-demand rights are also protected, and that it intends “to legislate to extend the regime to include on-demand rights when Parliamentary time allows.”
The change is intended to reflect shifting viewing habits, with audiences increasingly choosing to watch sport on a catch-up basis rather than live.
The paper notes that live and on-demand rights are usually sold together as a package, but warns this “will not always be the case.”
The government argues the move would allow public service media providers to “compete fairly with their larger global competitors” for those rights.
The paper points to the growing presence of global streaming services in live sport, with platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video moving into the market.
The commitment forms part of a wider set of measures in the green paper aimed at supporting public service broadcasters as audiences move online, including new rules on the prominence of public service content across streaming platforms and connected devices.
