The 149-year-old FA Cup is the world\u2019s oldest existing soccer competition and holds a special place in the hearts of English fans.<\/p>\n
Anger over the perceived takeover of the event by the betting industry was inflamed because Third Round is supposed to be a platform to raise awareness of the FA\u2019s mental health charity campaign.<\/p>\n
The issue was even raised in parliament Thursday, where lawmakers vented their outrage and threatened to scrap the FA\u2019s \u00a330 million-a-year taxpayer funding.<\/p>\n
We’re very angry as a government about this arrangement,\u201d said sports minister Nigel Adams. \u201cWe’ve asked the Football Association to look at this deal and see what opportunities there are to rescind this element of the deal.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Daily Mail<\/em> reports that FA chief executive Mark Bullingham held \u201ccrisis talks\u201d with Adams on Thursday, as the sporting body sought a way out of the deal.<\/p>\nBut the betting industry — eager to avoid controversy as the government considers imposing further regulatory clampdowns — appears to have thrown the FA a lifeline.<\/p>\n
The seven betting companies will continue to broadcast games on a bet-per-view basis, but will permit the FA to also stream them live on its website, free of charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UK betting companies claim they are prepared to share their broadcasting rights on certain soccer matches. The rights were purchased in 2017 for a total of almost $1 billion. The move followed an outcry over last weekend\u2019s FA Cup Third Round, when it was reported that Bet365 had live-streamed 23 FA Cup games on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":124119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
UK Betting Companies Let UK Soccer Fans Watch FA Cup Games for Free<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n