Kieran Maguire: This is the real reason for £20m West Brom snub as EFL chiefs livid
The likes of West Brom will not see an upswing in broadcast cash from the BBC because the media company simply cannot find a home for a new EFL highlights package.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the BBC’s purchase of Champions League highlights rights for the 2024-27 rights cycle.
The BBC paid £20million for the Wednesday night package, which starts as Europe’s premier club competition begins its new and expanded group stage format.
Per the Daily Mail last Friday (8 July), there is fury within the EFL that the public service broadcaster spent so much on Champions League rights when they turned down the chance to show EFL highlights for just £500,000.
But Maguire argues that the snub was likely based on logistics rather than finance.
“I suspect that the BBC would have been happy to broadcast the highlights but it’s more to do with when the matches would be shown,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“They had the EFL rights a few years ago and put it on at midnight on Saturday, so they didn’t get good viewing figures. If people want to see the goals, chances are they will have already seen them on Sky.
“The EFL is not big enough in its own right to hold down an 8.00pm or 9.00pm slot. Do you go to BBC Two? It wouldn’t really fit and again the question of timing would remain.
“So, I don’t think it’s a case of it not being commercially viable, it’s more one of space and time.”
In other news, West Brom reach full agreement to re-sign Okay Yokuslu.