Battle lines were drawn yesterday between ministers and sports chiefs after a report recommended that events of “national resonance” including the Ashes, the Open, the whole of Wimbledon fortnight and World Cup qualifiers should be freely available to the widest possible audience.
A government-appointed panel’s recommendation to add these live events to a list of “crown jewels” preserved by legislation for free-to-air television has set Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, on a collision course with sports governing bodies before the general election.
He must decide, after a three-month public consultation, whether to implement the changes proposed by the panel chairman, David Davies, who is a former executive director of the Football Association and a former BBC journalist.
Cricket, tennis and rugby union reacted furiously to the notion that their prize events should be restricted to four terrestrial broadcasters: the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five. They argue that market intervention, preventing them from selling to pay TV operators, would suppress the value of their rights and have a detrimental effect on grassroots development.
Roger Draper, chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, which depends on the £29.2 million profit from the Wimbledon championships for half its annual income, said: “Why change the status quo if the only effect is to damage the sport by reducing the investment we have available to grow tennis and develop British talent?”
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His consternation was echoed across other sports. The panel ignored a warning from the Welsh Rugby Union that listing its Six Nations matches would “decimate the sport”.
Most of the £17 million that the Welsh RU distributes annually is generated by media rights. Insiders said that £1.8 million went to village clubs that depended on it for survival.
The Scottish Football Association complained that listing its World Cup and European Championships qualifiers would cost it £12 million.
Yet the most controversial suggestion was to reclaim the Ashes for free TV after a 1998 review agreed to allow the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to sell Test matches to the highest bidder. Its exclusive £250 million contract with BSkyB, the broadcaster 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, runs to 2013. The ECB says that the money allows it to invest in community projects and youth development and to subsidise the county game.
Yet the Davies review has put itself above commercial interests. It concluded that the public interest in making the big events freely available was greater than that served by generating more money for individual sports.
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“Our report is challenging for the sports governing bodies, the broadcasters and the Government. But unashamedly it puts the viewing public first,” Mr Davies said.
He painted a picture from 2016 — the year of the next home Ashes series not already under contract — where 25 days of live action between England and Australia would be available beyond Sky Sport’s 7 million subscribers. A survey conducted during the ten-month review found that 82 per cent of people felt entitled to watch certain events for free because they had already paid the TV licence fee.
“In August, when England won The Ashes, it led the BBC news and ITV news and was on Sky throughout the day. If that was not an event of national resonance, then what was it?”
He claimed he had received “commitments” from BBC bosses that they would make a fair offer for the Ashes and urged them to “dig deep” to buy protected events.
Yet the BBC declined to bid at all during the last auction and has pointed to the difficulties of scheduling five-day test matches.
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Its own submission to the review was not to list the Ashes. Instead, it has focused on other sports, choosing to pay more than £200 million for the rights to Formula One.
The main events dropped from the list were the Winter Olympics, the Derby and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final. A secondary list relating to highlights was scrapped.
The omission of the Winter Games comes despite the fact that the biggest sports audience of all time was for Torvill and Dean’s gold medal in 1984. The moment was watched by 23.95 million people.
More recently, six million viewers were transfixed in the middle of the night as the Great Britain curling team won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Andy Hunt, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, said he was disappointed that winter sports would get an even lower profile without necessarily generating more money for athletes. Media income goes straight to the International Olympic Committee.
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He said: “It is imperative that winter sportsmen and women are given the same opportunity as their summer counterparts to allow the country to unite in the excitement generated by their Olympic participation.”
The review was welcomed by terrestrial broadcasters. Michael Grade, ITV’s executive chairman, said: “Digital switchover is not closing the huge gulf that exists between the reach of free-to-air and pay TV. Twenty million-plus audiences for these events on ITV and BBC are simply not achievable on pay television.”
Mr Bradshaw is expected to make a decision in late February or March ahead of a spring election.
He said: “Sport is a key element in our national identity, part of the glue that binds us together as a society,” he said. “We want to ensure that everyone has access to the sports events that matter most to the nation, as well as a strong financial footing for our leading sports.”