ITV World Cup Sponsorship Under Threat

ITV has reportedly been forced to lower the cost of sponsorship for its World Cup football coverage due to a lack of interest from advertisers.

The broadcaster had hoped to attract bids of around £3.5m for sponsorship, which would have accompanied all of its programming during the four week competition. However, according a report in today’s Financial Times, the network has been forced to lower the cost of the package from £3.5m to £2.5m.

A spokesperson for Granada Enterprises, which is handling sponsorship of ITV’s World Cup coverage, today confirmed that the broadcaster was looking for bids of around £3.5m, but refused to comment on speculation that it could be forced to accept lower offers.

This summer’s World Cup takes place in Japan and Korea and audiences for the event are expected to be lower than in the past due to the time difference, a factor which is thought to be deterring advertisers from investing in the event.

Recent research from Netpoll suggests that the internet will be the preferred medium for watching the World Cup, behind satellite and cable TV and ahead of daily newspapers, terrestrial TV and radio (see World Cup Pushes Sports Fans Online).

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Granada: 020 7620 1620 www.granada.co.uk

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