Once again British sport is about to change radically. And justlike last time, television and money - lots of it - are behind thetransformation. The creation of football's Premier League in 1992,and its migration to pay-TV through the satellite broadcaster Sky,was the first revolution. It changed the country's favourite sportfor ever - ploughing a quarter of a billion pounds into the game,improving television coverage an a subscription fee. Now, asbroadcasters and club owners engage in fresh talks over renewingtelevision contracts, viewers may even have to 'pay per view',match by match, as the digital era dawns.
The changes imposed on football have been gentle compared to therevolution occurring in rugby league, where the game has even hadits season reinvented. An pounds 89m deal designed to hijack theAustralian Rugby League has aligned the British Rugby League withRupert Murdoch, who owns 40 per cent of Sky, and is responsible forone of the biggest changes in the history of the game here.
From next March matches will be played in the summer in order tofit in with his proposed Australian super league, and the changeswill not stop there. Mr Murdoch's News International, as the game'spaymaster, will determine how, when and where it will be played.
Football is a mightier force and has been able to resist suchfundamental changes - so far. But the advent of 200-channeltelevision will test its resistance to the full.
Against the odds, Sky's relationship to date with football hasbeen relatively sweet, and has not in the main outragedtraditionalists.
A proud Sam Chisholm, chief executive of Sky and confidante ofMr Murdoch, says: 'It is the most rewarding partnership we have,and the benefits that have flowed to the clubs, the fans and theviewers are enormous.'
But if Sky thinks it has helped football, there is no doubtinghow much of a boost football has given to Sky. Without it thesuccessful flotation of the BSkyB group last year would have been agood deal harder, if not impossible, to achieve.
'There is a growing awareness in the football industry aboutjust how critical football has been to Sky's success,' says RogerDevlin of Henry Ansbacher, financial advisers to a number ofleading football clubs. One club owner puts it more bluntly: 'Let'sface it, the Premier League made Sky. In retrospect, we sold ourrights too cheaply and look like idiots.'
Sky became Britain's most profitable television broadcaster andit is now the biggest producer of sports programming, spendingpounds 100m a year compared to the BBC's pounds 90m and ITV'spounds 40m. It dominates virtually all senior football - to such anextent, indeed, that frustrated competitors complain about theMurdoch monopoly: 'It almost defies logic that anyone can competewith him.'
The move from 'free' to pay had other consequences. Where onceas many as 12 million people would watch the highlights of a gameon ITV or BBC, a Premier League match on Sky might get an audienceof 2 million. But the coverage itself is massively improved, aseven Sky's harshest critics concede and since Sky started showingfootball live attendances have gone up.
The last Sky deal, though, left the rest of the Football Leaguehanging, stuck with a relatively paltry deal with ITV and with noshare in the fortunes showered on the breakaway top clubs.
All that looks set to change, and the implications not only forfootball but for all televised sports are huge. For the nextgeneration of sports rights will take us into the era of digitaltelevision and the prospect of wall-to-wall sporting events.
Even more money will be thrown at sports on TV - perhaps pounds800m over five years for the Premier League alone. The rump of theFootball League, the First, Second and Third divisions, stand togain more than pounds 120m in that period, with the FA Cup andinternational matches generating perhaps pounds 130m. Cricketrights might fetch pounds 5m when the current contract is renewed,while a host of secondary rights (for replays, highlights and thelikes) could sweeten the sports pot further.
Just how many events will be available to the average viewer isunknown. But one thing is clear: the fan will have to pay for theextra choice.
It is pay-TV that has driven prices to these dizzying heights:the whole point for Sky is buy exclusive rights, obliging viewersto ante up for the privilege of watching. By 2000, viewers arelikely to have a huge choice. But they will be expected to pay,either for subscriptions to satellite and cable, or even for smartcards to plug into set-top boxes, giving them home and away gamesof their favourite teams on digital television.
Football has already shown the way and rugby is not far behind.Only the few events listed by the Broadcasting Act, including theFA Cup and Wimbledon, will be safe from pay-per-view, althoughthere is nothing stopping satellite or cable broadcasters snappingup the rights to these hallowed events as well.
The first outlines of the future of televised sports arediscernible in tense talks now under way to renew the contracts forfootball. The landmark Premier deal, worth pounds 218m over fiveyears for the top 20 clubs, expires at the end of next season, andthe broadcasters and football owners are jockeying for position.
At the same time, contracts for the rights to cup finals andinternationals, along with the Endsleigh (non-Premier) League, arealso under negotiation.
It is a messy, complicated business. The whole concept of rightsin the UK is embryonic, with broadcasters traditionally calling theshots and sports organisations accepting their wishes. Sky helpedto change that, by showing just how much money was available. Clubowners, the Football Association, the Rugby League and other rightsholders have responded by becoming more creative - working togetherto package rights, for example, or pushing for elaborateprofit-sharing arrangements with broadcasters.
Most advanced are the talks between all three main broadcastersand the Football Association, whose commercial director, TrevorPhilips, has put together a draft proposal combining the FA's ownrights - the FA Cup and international matches - with the FootballLeague. He has secured promises of pounds 250m over five years fromSky, of which the Football League would receive pounds 133m. Aspart of the agreement, both the BBC and ITV would 'sub- let' rightsfrom Sky, and at least some Football League games would be shown onterrestrial television. Sky would inaugurate Friday night football,featuring matches from the Football League. The deal, put yesterdayto Football League club owners, must be approved within 14 days,insists Mr Philips.
The Premier League, meanwhile, is making its own pitch to theFootball League owners, hoping to entice them into joining forcesand securing an even better deal from the broadcasters. David Dein,vice-chairman of Arsenal, says his objective is to 'maximiserevenues for the game. I, for one, do not believe football shouldbe selling its rights outright. We should have a dialogue with allthe main players in football.'
If that approach fails, the top 20 teams will again sit downwith Sky, and hammer out a renewal of their current deal.
Other potential bidders may be waiting on the sidelines.Companies such as IMG, the sports agency, and the media companiesPearson and Mirror Group, are all believed to be consideringjoining rival consortia to wrest the Premier League away from Sky.
Whoever wins - and Sky must be the favourite - traditionalistsmay still have cause to worry. If pay-per-view becomes the norm,the British game is bound to change. With virtually every game ontap, and no need to travel to the local stadium, let alone out oftown, can the culture of British football survive? The fears thatpreceded the first Sky deal - saturation television coverage,half-empty grounds and growing inequality between mega-clubs andthe bankrupt also-rans - may well resurface.
Additional reporting by Dave Hadfield.
Listed events
Under the 1990 Broadcasting Act, viewers receiving cable orsatellite TV should not pay an additional fee for 'listed events'.Nothing prevents listed events being exclusively shown onsatellite/cable channels: each sporting organisation decides on itsown TV contracts. Rugby Union and Wimbledon have so far decided tostay with terrestrial television to reach a larger audience. RugbyLeague however, because of underfunding, has negotiated a deal withSky.
Listed events are:
Cricket: England's test matches
Racing: the Derby, Grand National
Football: Fifa World Cup finals, FA Cup final, Scottish FA Cupfinal
Tennis: finals weekend of Wimbledon
Olympic Games
The Commonwealth Games and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Racewere initially considered but finally removed from the list.
