FA Cup UK rights pivot to TNT Sports, reducing BBC's coverage
For the 2025/2026 FA Cup season, a new commercial deal makes TNT Sports the main pay-TV broadcaster in the UK, with streaming on HBO Max, reducing the BBC's free-to-air coverage to 14 games. ESPN Select is the exclusive rights-holder in the US. In Australia, Stan Sport has taken over the rights from the start of the season.
Key Takeaways
- For the 2025/2026 season, TNT Sports becomes the primary UK pay-TV home for the FA Cup, with streaming on HBO Max.
- The BBC's free-to-air FA Cup coverage will be limited to 14 games throughout the competition, shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
- In the US, ESPN holds the exclusive rights, with all games available to stream on the ESPN Select platform.
- Stan Sport is the new FA Cup rights-holder in Australia, taking over from Optus Sport for the 2025/2026 season.
Why It Matters
This deal shifts a historically accessible UK sporting event further behind a paywall, reducing the FA Cup's free-to-air reach via the BBC. The move reflects a broader trend of sports rights holders maximizing revenue through pay-TV partnerships, even for culturally significant events. For international rights, the strategy remains fragmented, with exclusive single partners in key markets like the US (ESPN) and Australia (Stan Sport). The key metric will be the viewership numbers for TNT Sports' paid matches compared to the historical figures from a wider free-to-air distribution on ITV and BBC.
Read full article at fourfourtwo.com
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