17-03-2023, 12:34 PM
Sensible.
Worth noting the Mens World Cup in that other sport have now scrapped the three team group idea, having realised it meant starting the tournament with a risk of basically 48 fairly routine group games and in theory 16 second round games where the big teams were kept apart. Instead it'll be 12 groups of 4, then still a round of 32 but perhaps with more chances of a few noteably match ups. That does make it 104 games though, so at least 52 each on the BBC and ITV, up by 20 from the current split.
I don't think FIFA have much regard for how much more expensive that'll make it for broadcasters to cover - they just assume more matches will see broadcasters willing to pay more for the rights, but not so sure that'll be the case given the increased production costs.
Worth noting the Mens World Cup in that other sport have now scrapped the three team group idea, having realised it meant starting the tournament with a risk of basically 48 fairly routine group games and in theory 16 second round games where the big teams were kept apart. Instead it'll be 12 groups of 4, then still a round of 32 but perhaps with more chances of a few noteably match ups. That does make it 104 games though, so at least 52 each on the BBC and ITV, up by 20 from the current split.
I don't think FIFA have much regard for how much more expensive that'll make it for broadcasters to cover - they just assume more matches will see broadcasters willing to pay more for the rights, but not so sure that'll be the case given the increased production costs.