Revealed: BBC bid just £900k for £5m Commonwealth Games TV rights
Commonwealth Games chiefs took flak for agreeing a broadcast deal with TNT Sports that put it behind a paywall for the first time in 72 years – but Morning Wire can reveal the BBC offered less than £1m for the rights.
The BBC’s bid of around £900,000 represented a 91 per cent decrease on the £10m the organisation paid for the rights to broadcast the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
TNT Sports, owned by Warner Bros Discovery, ended up paying around £5m to become the competition’s official UK partner, showing all the action on its linear TV channel and streaming it on HBO Max. TNT Sports costs between £25.99 and £30.99 per month, while HBO Max is available for £4.99 per month.
TNT Sports described the agreement as entering “a new era”, promising a “never-before-seen viewing experience”. A deal was also later struck with Channel 5 to ensure extensive daily highlights were available free-to-air.
It was the first time since 1954 that the BBC had not broadcast the Commonwealth Games live, though the broadcaster covered the event via the BBC Sport website, BBC News and Radio 5 Live. The BBC also secured live Gaelic rights, showing nightly coverage on BBC Alba and iPlayer.
The BBC declined to comment.
Super sub Ellis-Bextor rescues PFA
Word from the Professional Footballers’ Association awards do at the Manchester Opera House last week is that Sophie Ellis-Bextor was a late substitute for Bastille. The indie pop band was forced to pull out at the last minute, leaving organisers scrambling for a replacement.
Ellis-Bextor, who rose to fame in the early 2000s with a string of pop and dance hits, impressed many on the night – though it is unclear how many players recognised the 47-year-old.
Her debut solo album Read My Lips was released in 2001 and went double platinum, selling 1.5m copies. She had drifted out of the mainstream but enjoyed a resurgence in 2023 when Murder on the Dancefloor featured in Saltburn – an excellent film, though this column would caution against watching it with relatives.
Non-league clubs join data revolution
National League clubs are spending “hundreds of thousands” of pounds on data in an effort to gain an edge on rivals, as the data arms race seen in the Premier League and EFL filters down the pyramid.
Non-league football once conjured images of mud-splattered changing rooms and crumbling training grounds but the reality is now very different. The majority of National League clubs – the fifth tier – are fully professional, many losing upwards of £1m a year. And data is powering promotion pushes.
“Seven or eight years ago no clubs were using data for recruitment,” Richard Byrne, commercial director at Teamworks Player ID, tells Morning Wire. “Liverpool and Chelsea were famous for it. Brentford and Brighton were getting into it.
“Now I’m speaking to the National League and everybody is buying hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of data a year and building out their own player profiles based on their club’s current style of play.
“There’s been a proliferation of data across the industry. It’s becoming part of every club’s decision-making process, which is mad to think about at some of the levels we’re dealing with.”
Palace’s Instagram U-turn
Crystal Palace were forced to delete an Instagram reel that revealed Dean Henderson was injured on the eve of their Premier League opener.
As clubs increasingly bring fans behind the scenes on social media, Palace went a little too far when a video accidentally showed the goalkeeper limping from a twisted ankle, making him a doubt for the game against Everton.
But it might inadvertently have worked in Palace’s favour: if any eagle-eyed Everton analysts spotted the clip and assumed Henderson would miss out, he was ultimately passed fit after a late assessment.
Arsenal brand value soars
Arsenal’s brand value has risen by an extraordinary 32 per cent, overtaking Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United for the first time, according to a new report.
The success of Mikel Arteta’s side – winning the Premier League for the first time in 22 years and reaching the Champions League final – has propelled them above their rivals in brand power.
Brand Finance reports that Arsenal’s brand value is £1.3bn – up from £986m the previous season. Manchester City and Liverpool are valued at £1.28bn, with Manchester United at £1.2bn. The report states City’s slip down the rankings is partly due to the departure of Pep Guardiola, who stepped down after a decade in charge.
Arsenal are following the Paris Saint-Germain model by turning the club into a lifestyle brand and leaning into youth culture.
“Brand strength can create a virtuous cycle,” said Scott Moore, Brand Finance’s head of sports services. “When a club is performing well, investment in its identity, culture and commercial relationships can amplify that success and turn sporting momentum into lasting brand equity. Arsenal appears to be doing exactly that.”