Premiere League Looks To Scuttle Latest TV Proposal

Richard Scudamore Leading Charge Against EC

Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore will urge team chairs to “reject a joint proposal from ITV and NTL that offers at least [US$298M] a year for the right to televise half of the league’s live matches,” according to Shah & Harris of the London INDEPENDENT. This comes as the league “prepares to offer a compromise deal to the European Commission which would see 20[%] of the games reserved for a broadcaster other than” BSkyB. The EC is “determined to break the monopoly that Sky has held” over Premiership rights and “wants at least half the rights to go to a secondary broadcaster.” Scudamore and the 20 team chairs are “set to dismiss” the proposal today, and Scudamore plans to tell the chairs that the EC’s position is illegal. ITV and NTL “hope to mount a joint bid for the next three-year rights package.” Sky pays just over US$596M a year under the current deal, which expires in ’07 (London INDEPENDENT, 10/13). In Manchester, Dan Milmo reported that ITV and NTL said that they “would ensure the minimum amount they paid for a 50[%] share of the games would represent 50[%] of their current market value, ensuring that a floor is set on the value of the rights” (Manchester GUARDIAN, 10/12).