The UK government has proposed new legislation that will allow viewers to watch the world's biggest sporting events, including the World Cup, Olympics and Wimbledon, for free. The new law will prevent streaming and catch-up rights on these events from being put behind a paywall for UK viewers.
Current Legislation and Digital Expansion
The current legislation covering the "crown jewels" events was established in 1996. At that time, only 4% of UK households had access to the internet. However, the ruling does not prevent on-demand rights being sold to a streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, which would therefore charge subscribers for watching the sports at whatever time they desire.
Other listed events that will now have such digital rights added to the scope of the regime, as part of a media green paper being published this week, are the FA Cup final and the Grand National.
Government Statement
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Due to the late-night kick-offs, so many families are currently following the World Cup by catching up on-demand in the mornings. With these changes we are protecting that for the future, ensuring streaming rights for the biggest sports events must be offered to our public service broadcasters."
She continued: "This will not only help those broadcasters compete, it will make sure that people never miss out on the history-making sporting moments that bring us together as a nation, for free and however and whenever they choose to watch."
Background and Future Plans
In 2022, a report by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee suggested that the previous government "should review extending the protections currently offered under the listed events regime to digital and on-demand content". Ministers were also urged to add the Six Nations rugby championship to the list of events. However, the government currently has no plans to expand the list.
