FA MISS OUT ON TV MILLIONS
THE FA have taken football’s first major financial hit of the coronavirus crisis after not being paid broadcast fees worth tens of millions of pounds for this season’s FA Cup.
Sportsmail can reveal that IMG, who negotiated the lion’s share of the £820million FA Cup contract with overseas broadcasters, have withheld a payment relating to the quarter-finals, because none of the four ties took place as scheduled last month due to the shutdown.
Under the terms of the deal, IMG are understood to have guaranteed payment to the FA irrespective of receiving funds from broadcasters, raising the question of whether the governing body will take legal action for breach of contract.
There are fears at Wembley that a lengthy postponement or cancellation of the FA Cup could have seismic ramifications in terms of lost broadcast revenue, as the final in particular is a huge TV event across the world.
The quarter-finals are especially valuable as they generally feature
the biggest Premier League clubs, with this season’s ties including Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. The record six-year deal which began in 2018 is worth £137m a year to the FA from overseas broadcasters and was negotiated by two agencies. Pitch International’s deal for rights in Europe and the Middle East is worth £245m and IMG paid £575m for the rest of the world, which they rapidly concluded was overvalued. The IMG deal alone is worth almost £100m a year to the FA, so missing out on payments for the last three rounds of the competition would lead to huge losses. Pitch are understood to have paid the FA the sum due for their rights. The FA issued a collective statement with the Premier League and EFL yesterday confirming that football will not resume until it is safe to do so, and there is an acceptance at Wembley that completing the league programme will take precedence over cup competitions despite the financial impact. The FA are understood to be in talks with IMG to resolve the situation. An FA spokesman said they never discuss commercial arrangements. IMG declined to comment last night.