After much deliberation, ITV have extended their deal with the Football Association to show the FA Cup and most England internationals until 2014.

The contents of the agreement are similar to what they are currently receiving, with up to 16 live matches from the FA Cup each season (including the first pick throughout), plus all of England’s friendly internationals, and their home qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Away qualifiers are sold through the relevant FA from each country, so are not covered by this contract.

A couple of extras have also been tossed in, mainly the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the season. While it is a glorified friendly, it usually is an attractive prospect for broadcasters at the start of the year, and has been shown by Sky Sports in recent years. Also, ITV4 will show six matches from the later rounds of the FA Youth Cup, which has been without a home since the demise of Setanta Sports in 2009.

However, the main bonus for ITV is the cost of the deal-£90m. It sounds a lot, but in comparison to the £275m they have paid under the current four-year contract which expires in the summer, it works out at more than a 30% saving (£20m a year) for the broadcaster.

The 2008-2012 contract was signed at the height of the television sports rights market back in 2007 before the global recession, which has seen a marked drop in most TV rights fees for all bar the elite competitions in sport.

The deal summed up:

• £90m over two years

• One live FA Cup match in rounds 1 and 2, two live matches in rounds 3-6, one semi-final, and the final

• First choice of matches in every round, plus the fourth pick in rounds 3 and 4, and the third pick in rounds 5 and 6

• First choice on replays in rounds 3-6

• England’s home 2014 World Cup qualifiers live

• All England friendlies live, both home and away

• Community Shield live

• Six FA Youth Cup matches per season, including the semi-finals and the final

• Covers online as well as television, plus mobile rights if necessary

Celtic TV and Rangers TV will return to British screens every Monday night on Premier Sports from the 16th January.

Under the deal, both clubs will have a three hour block between 6pm and midnight featuring their respective matches from the weekend in full, with pre and post-match analysis and classic action on top. Whichever team was not featured in a live match on Sky Sports or ESPN that weekend will get the early slot, while whoever was shown live by those channels will be featured from 9pm. Both blocks will be repeated during the week.

The Old Firm clubs had their own channels previously that were part-owned by the doomed Setanta Sports, and closed along with that company back in 2009. Ironically, Premier Sports were formed from the ashes of Setanta, so hopefully this partnership will not go the same way.

 

The Scottish Premier League have announced a five-year television contract extension with Sky Sports and ESPN that will run until 2017.

The deal, worth a reported £80 million sees 60 matches a season still split equally between the two broadcasters. Sky will retain all four Old Firm derbies over the season, while ESPN will hold all but one of the potential four Edinburgh derbies.

It sees an increase of £15 million on the current three-year contract that expires at the end of this season, which works out at £3 million more a year.

This is still a long way from the totally unrealistic £125 million offered by the doomed Setanta Sports for four years of live coverage back in 2008, and many SPL clubs are still suffering from that debacle. However, the new deal at least provides some stability for the clubs involved in the league over the next few years. It also seemingly ends the debate of increasing the league to 16 or 18 clubs for the time being, as Sky view the four Old Firm derbies as infinitely more valuable than their 26 other matches and would not compromise on losing one of them.

And while the increase in money may seem minimal, it is worth remembering that Sky are paying considerably less for the live Football league rights from next season than they are currently, and that the standard and marketability of the SPL has arguably never been lower.