Memorandum by the Institute of Professional
Sport
INTRODUCTION
The IPS is the national association for the
Professional Player associations in the UK and is pleased to respond
to the House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry into Proposals
by the European Commission (EC) for the Revision of the "Television
Without Frontiers Directive." The EC propose that the scope
of the directive be widened to cover new media services.
FINANCING COMMUNITY
SPORT
Sport in the UK and Europe plays an important
role in our society and gives a focus for civic and community
activities as well as employment opportunities. Televised major
sporting events provide access to millions of people world wide
and in the UK a substantial proportion of the broadcast revenue
from the collective sale of TV rights is invested back into grass
roots development. [3]This
funding stream is endorsed by the Government which supports the
work of sports charities such as the Golf, Cricket and Football
Foundations that receive income via the sale of the sports TV
rights. In turn the sports bodies are able to fund projects in
the community. With any diminution of finances there is a likelihood
of less investment in sporting opportunities and facilities.
It would be interesting to learn whether other
national sporting bodies in Europe assist the funding of their
community sport programmes through allocating a percentage of
their TV revenues to community sport. Since 1997 with the adoption
of the voluntary Code on Sports Broadcasting Rights the IPS understand
that the UK sports bodies have led the way in this respect.
A reduction of such finances arising from a
limitation on the exclusive nature of the sale of the sports rights
would therefore be regretted. We are therefore opposed to the
Commission proposals which we believe would create legal uncertainty
for rights owners and licensees. Such legal uncertainty would
threaten future investment in new media services and pose a danger
to continued investment in sport across Europe. Furthermore, the
proposals would lead to the creation of a secondary rights market
for news, with news content no longer being made available free
of charge in line with current practice. Instead news could become
subject to market prices, which we do not believe to be in the
interest of European citizens.
ADDITIONAL REGULATION
The IPS would fully support the views of the
major spectator sports in UK and from Europe to news access and
wholly endorses the right of the public to information. However
the proposed Article 3b and accompanying Recitals (26 and 27)
are unnecessary given the existing news access framework in the
EU. They threaten to undermine the development of news media services
and products as well as future investment into European sport.
We would therefore recommend that Article 3b and accompanying
recitals be deleted from the Directive, and that the existing
copyright-based framework continue to provide the basis for effective
news access to the public in the European Union.
VOLUNTARY CODE
FOR NEWS
ACCESS
The Independent Television Commission (ITC)
[4]expressed
the view in its submission to the EC that it does not support
that provision in the TWF Directive for news access to short extracts
of events subject to exclusive rights. The ITC expressed the view
that for or any secondary broadcaster to be entitled to provide
a news report on a major event would undermine the value of the
rights holder. In the UK there is a voluntary code by broadcasters'
that governs use of short extracts taken from each others broadcasts
for the purposes of news programmes. This appears to have worked
well and does not require further legislation.
CONCLUSION
Further regulation[5]
would lead to significant regulation of the Internet and stifle
the growth of competitiveness in the new media services as well
as raising prices for consumers of national sports events. The
IPS believes the self regulatory approach within the UK is in
the best interests of Government policy and the sporting public.
Any restriction on the ability of rights holders
to sell their sports TV rights could lead to such bodies relocating
to non-EU locations and broadcasting their events back to the
UK.
The recently launched Independent European Sports
Review, that will result in a European Commission White paper
for sport in 2007, has accepted the model of the collective selling
of rights benefits broadcasters and spectators alike. [6]
The IPS would be pleased to be kept informed
of any evidence to be given by sports bodies to the House of Lords
Inquiry or indeed any final report it presents to the Government
or the European Commission.
21 September 2006
3 CCPR Voluntary Code on Sports Broadcasting Rights. Back
4
ITC Response to the TWF Directive Review. Back
5
DCMS Minister Speech to the Foreign Policy Centre 26 January 2006. Back
6
Independent European Sports Review-P6.60 www.independentfootballreview.com Back
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