FA Cup announce huge broadcast change with major free-to-air channel losing rights

BBC SPORT has been confirmed as the free-to-air broadcaster for the new four-year FA Cup contract.

Wembley chiefs came under fire in February when it was announced that TNT Sports had won the main rights from 2025-26 in a deal believed to be worth £130m per year.

But that agreement came with a guarantee that the pay-network would find a terrestrial partner.

And it has now been confirmed that - as expected - TNT will partner with the Beeb to ensure fans can watch key matches including the final without a subscription.

ITV - who have been showing live games alongside the BBC for the past few years - will now lose their rights from the 2025/26 season onwards.

The new agreement will see 14 games screened live on the BBC while also being shown by TNT.

That will mean two games from the first round through to the last eight, one semi-final and the FA Cup Final all available free to air.

TNT will have exclusive access to the other semi-final, with all the matches from the third round onwards not kicking off during the Saturday 3pm blackout window also available on the network.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "We are delighted that the BBC will continue as one of our Emirates FA Cup broadcast partners, under this new deal with TNT Sports.

“It was always our intention to ensure that this very special competition would be accessible for everyone.

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"And this new broadcast partnership will enable fans to see more of its matches live than ever before from the start of the 2025-26 season, across both TNT Sports and free-to-air on the BBC.

“The BBC has told many of the magical and memorable stories that only the Emirates FA Cup can create, and we look forward to making even more history together in the years ahead."

While BBC and ITV share coverage under the current contract which runs to the end of next season, the Beeb previously shared rights with TNT’s predecessor BT Sport for four years until 2021.

Phil Bernie, BBC’s interim director of sport, said: “The BBC has a proud history of bringing fans across the nation together for all the magic and drama of the Emirates FA Cup.

“This partnership for the next four years is brilliant news and, alongside our recent Premier League extension and UEFA Champions League highlights coming this year, means that BBC Sport will deliver fans top class analysis, commentary and coverage of the biggest football competitions free to air and accessible for all.”

TNT’s Trojan Paillot added: “TNT Sports will broadcast every single game outside of 3pm kick-offs, starting from the first round, ensuring fans can watch more of the Emirates FA Cup than ever before all in one place.

“Our ambition is to make more of the live Emirates FA Cup action available to fans than ever before, so the BBC are an outstanding partner to ensure that alongside more games we also make the competition as widely available as possible.”