TNT Sports wins the rights to the F.A. Cup from 2025/26

[Brucemeister5]

Presumably there will be a FTA broadcast partner tba too.

[zulu17]

The FA announcement is

https://www.thefa.com/news/2024/feb/15/emirates-fa-cup-television-deal-announced-20240215

selected extracts

""TNT Sports will showcase live matches from the first round, with every game from the third round outside of 3pm kick offs on display through to the final at Wembley Stadium connected by EE.

Selected matches from every round will be available free-to-air, and highlights of every game will be made available. Further details of the free-to-air broadcaster will be confirmed in due course.

In addition to the Emirates FA Cup ties, TNT Sports will also broadcast the English football season’s traditional curtain raiser, the FA Community Shield, and the FA Youth Cup semi-finals and final. They join the Vanarama National League, which TNT Sports also has the rights to in a long-standing commitment. "

[NigelB72]

I'm really happy the FA Cup is going back to BT/TNT purely because BBC and ITV wouldn't broadcast any of the early rounds which not only meant the lower league teams missed out on TV money but also because these produce some great games and set the tone for the rest of the competition...

[zulu17]

@NigelB72  the BBC has covered   live FA Cup games from the Preliminary Round stage

"The early rounds of the FA Cup qualifiers have been streamed on the BBC since 2017, which has not only put non league clubs on the map, but also earned them a welcome financial boost for being on the telly.

A game from every stage is live-streamed across BBC Sport’s digital platforms, allowing audiences to watch the game live on PC, mobile or connected TV. Matches are also be available live and on-demand on BBC iPlayer."

So I think they started the current competition with Horley v Croydon Athletic way back on 19th August on iPlayer.