UK’s local public-service broadcaster, BBC has decided to telecast all Copa America, the South American national football team tournament in the summer. The Copa America will be shown along with UEFA Euro 2020. While the broadcast right for Euros is being shared with commercial network ITV, Copa America will be completely telecasted on BBC.
The Copa America will commence from 13th June till 10th July. Columbia and Argentina are co-hosts and ten teams will be competing against each other for South American glory. On the other hand, Euro 2020 is scheduled from 11 June to 11 July. This tournament will be held across multiple venues in Europe but the final would be played in London’s Wembley Stadium.Â
Both the tournaments were to be played last summer, but they were delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. BBC will broadcast all Copa America games on its iPlayer online streaming service, and also on BBC sport website and mobile application. Meanwhile, Euro 2020 are going to be covered on BBC 1 and BBC 2 channels.
Dentsu, the Japanese advertising giant, has a 10-year deal with CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation running till 2028 which has exclusive global consulting and commercial sales rights to Copa America. It also broadcasted FIFA Club World Cup, which got broadcasted in February on its Red Button format and on the website.
BBC has been showing South American content in the UK for a while and has been broadcasting the latter stages of 2020’s Copa Libertadores earlier this year. However, the main priority of the broadcaster is Premier League football and they have been covering selected live Premier League games as the spectators weren’t allowed in stadiums due to COVID-19 restrictions.Â
South American players such as Edinson Cavani from Manchester United, Liverpool’s Allison, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino, James Rodriguez from Everton, Manchester City’s Fernandinho, Ederson, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus from Premier League are all going to play in Copa American this summer.Â