BBC secures 'Match of the Day' highlights for further three seasons
Published May 25 2012, 16:15 BST | By Andrew Laughlin
The BBC has agreed a new three-season deal to retain the free-to-air highlights to Premier Leagues games for its Match of the Day programme.In a statement today, the Premier League confirmed that the corporation will continue offering highlights of games from the league from the 2013/14 season through to the end of 2015/16.
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The BBC secured the highlights package with a bid of £179.7m, ensuring that the coverage remains on the traditional Saturday evening Match of the Day programme, the Sunday morning repeat, MOTD2 on Sunday evenings and other selected evenings "when Premier League fixtures justify a show".
For the first time ever, Match of the Day will also be available on catch-up TV platform BBC iPlayer from midnight on Mondays, as is currently the case for MOTD2.
The deal will also run into Match of the Day's 50th year covering highlights of English top flight club football.
"The free-to-air highlights are extremely important to the broadcast reach of the Premier League; allowing the competition and our clubs to be seen by the maximum possible number of fans across the country," said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.
"The BBC has done a fantastic job for fans of Premier League clubs by providing quality coverage and analysis across their programmes. We are very pleased to be continuing our partnership with them."
Gary Lineker, who hosts Match of the Day with lead pundits Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson, added: "It is wonderful news that we have MOTD for another three years. It is a flagship programme and it shows how much the BBC values sport and the importance of football."
BBC director of Sport Barbara Slater said that after the thrilling final to the 2011/2012 season - in which Manchester City claimed the title in the final minutes of their last game - the Premier League has "never been more exciting and dramatic".
"We're absolutely delighted that the TV highlights will continue to be available to licence fee payers. We've seen audiences for MOTD grow in recent years and the programme remains one of the BBC's best loved and most iconic brands," she said.
"The new contract will see MOTD celebrate its 50th birthday and extend coverage to the end of the 2015/16 season."
The billion pound auction for new live rights deals to the Premier League is still due to go ahead, with current holders Sky and ESPN expected to be joined by Al Jazeera in the bidding.
I don't personally like either but I think Match of the Day is a more justifiable spend than how much money is wasted on the dross Eastenders.
June 14th 2012 at 8:51am
stop moaning , ITV football coverage is terrible . The BBC hightlight are ok.
June 13th 2012 at 8:24pm
So glad the BBC have the highlights still. Although I don't agree with vast sums of "the people's" money being spent, ITV's coverage was awful!
May 27th 2012 at 8:33am
why is the bbc allowed to keep wasting money if its state funded the public should have more say over how the bbc is set up and spends cash, moaning about cash shortages and having to axe stuff and have more repeats then paying 180 million just for highlights is a joke plus have to add on fees for pundits on match of day as well so for a 10.30pm show pulling in 4 million per week only when footy season is on aint right! hope when the bbc licence fee debate starts up in 2014 this is looked into as this along with the voice means 200million spent on just two things scrap the licence fee!!!!
May 26th 2012 at 4:34pm
This seems a lot, £60 million a year !
May 26th 2012 at 1:14pm