Channel 4 has secured the rights to show England matches for the next two years. Uefa Nations League games, qualifiers for Euro 2024 and friendlies will shown by the channel, which has taken over as broadcast partner from ITV and Sky.
Kicking off the deal will be June’s Nations League fixtures, with home and away encounters against Hungary and matches against Italy and Germany. European qualification begins next spring, with the draw for qualifying groups taking place in October. Channel 4 is scheduled to show 20 England matches in the period to 2024.
With the World Cup live on BBC and ITV in November and December, Channel 4’s deal means that all of the men’s national team fixtures will be live on free-to-air TV until 2024.
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The move disrupts the traditional mix of sports broadcasters. ITV has lost its long-running association with England and has only FA Cup fixtures to show live, rights it shares with the BBC. Sky’s offering, meanwhile, becomes increasingly limited to the club game.
For Channel 4 the move confirms a strategic commitment to live sports and follows a highly successful 12 months. Last year the broadcaster acquired one-off rights to Emma Raducanu’s US Open final triumph and the climax to the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi. It also attracted 20 million viewers to its coverage of the Tokyo Paralympic Games and had 80 hours of live broadcast from the Winter Paralympics in Beijing. It was named broadcaster of the year at the British Sports Journalism Awards this year
The news will be seen as part of the public service broadcaster’s rearguard action to avoid privatisation. This year the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, confirmed her intention to sell off the business, claiming private ownership would make the channel better able to compete with Netflix or Amazon. Legislation is poised to be put before parliament but questions remain as to whether a new – likely foreign – owner would share the channel’s commitment to investing in British content, with England matches another pertinent example.
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