Television: Listed Sporting Events

Lord Tebbit Excerpts

Thursday 11th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend makes a valid point, but I should say that the sale of sports rights is a commercial matter between the broadcasters and the rights owners, and the Government do not intervene in this process.

[Lord Tebbit]

Does my noble friend not agree that the intellectual property, if one might call it that, of a test match, hockey match or any other match belongs to those who have organised it and are playing that game, and it should not be the business of the Government to seek some means of lowering the income to those people by pushing and shoving them on to a free-to-air channel? After all, we do not do that with films, do we? We do not say that the film maker must give his film free to the local cinemas. Why should those who play football or cricket be pushed around in that manner?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I do not think that the noble Lord is right about people being pushed around. However, this is not particularly an issue for government but more an issue between sporting rights-holders and the broadcasters themselves.