BBC safe new FA Cup TV take care of TNT Sports

The BBC will continue to show live FA Cup matches for four years from the 2025-26 season after securing a deal with main rights holder TNT Sports. 

Mail Sport exclusively revealed in March that a deal had been agreed between BBC and TNT Sports, which saw the British broadcaster beat ITV to the secondary live rights package in a deal that will give the corporation live coverage of two FA Cup matches from each round up to the quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.

And the deal was confirmed on Tuesday with the tournament to shown on free-to-air television for years to come. The deal will see the BBC broadcast free-to-air live coverage of 14 games per season co-exclusively with TNT Sports.  

The deal also provides for the BBC to have highlights and digital clips across its platforms. 

TNT bought the rights from the FA in a record four-year deal worth £264million earlier this year, with the contract stipulating that games in each round must be made available on free-to-air television. 

The BBC will continue to show live FA Cup matches for four years from the 2025-26 season

It comes after the British broadcaster secured a deal with main rights holder TNT Sports 

TNT bought the rights from the FA in a record four-year deal worth £264million earlier this year but always intended to partner with a public service broadcaster

While TNT could have shown matches on YouTube or their freeview channel Quest it was always their intention to seek a public service broadcaster as their rights partner.

The BBC have had live rights to a portion of the FA Cup since 2014, with their coverage shared with ITV for the past four years, and retaining them will be a major boost for a sports department that has lost rights to Formula One, the Grand National and the Open Championship over the last decade. 

Although it was negotiated by TNT the FA will also be pleased with the deal as the BBC’s heavy promotion across TV, radio, online and social media platforms will ensure the FA Cup continues to receive wide exposure. 

Interim Director of BBC Sport, Philip Bernie said: ‘The BBC has a proud history of bringing fans across the nation together for all the magic and drama of the Emirates FA Cup. 

‘This partnership for the next four years is brilliant news and, alongside our recent Premier League extension and UEFA Champions League highlights coming this year, means that BBC Sport will deliver fans top class analysis, commentary and coverage of the biggest football competitions free to air and accessible for all.’

The governing body’s decision to sell the main rights package to a subscription channel after four years of exclusive matches on BBC and ITV was criticised last month, but in reality a mixed broadcasting model has been the norm for the competition for most of the last 30 years.

TNT’s predecessor, BT Sport, shared the rights with the BBC from 2014 to 2021, while other subscription services including Sky Sports, Setanta and ESPN have previously held live FA Cup rights. 

The £264m FA Cup deal is one of the FA’s biggest sources of revenue and it is used to fund the grassroots game, Wembley, and England’s national teams

The £264m FA Cup deal is one of the FA’s biggest sources of revenue, which they use to fund grassroots football as well as running Wembley and England teams across all age groups.

Trojan Paillot, SVP Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndication WBD Sports Europe, said: ‘TNT Sports will broadcast every single game outside of 3pm kick-offs, starting from the first round, ensuring fans can watch more of the Emirates FA Cup than ever before all in one place.’

‘Our ambition is to make more of the live Emirates FA Cup action available to fans than ever before, so the BBC are an outstanding partner to ensure that alongside more games we also make the competition as widely available as possible.’

Mark Bullingham, FA Chief Executive, said: ‘We are delighted that the BBC will continue as one of our Emirates FA Cup broadcast partners, under this new deal with TNT Sports. 

‘It was always our intention to ensure that this very special competition would be accessible for everyone, and this new broadcast partnership will enable fans to see more of its matches live than ever before from the start of the 2025-26 season, across both TNT Sports and free-to-air on the BBC. 

BT Sport shared the rights with the BBC from 2014 to 2021 and the broadcaster has a proud history with the historic cup competition

‘The BBC has told many of the magical and memorable stories that only the Emirates FA Cup can create, and we look forward to making even more history together in the years ahead.’

In another significant change all FA Cup ties from the third round that do not kick off during the Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout will be televised live. 

As part of the deal TNT have also secured live rights for the Community Shield and the FA Youth Cup final.