Speak up for more free sport on TV
The trade is urged to speak out to make more sport free-to-air in pubs.
The call comes from All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group chairman John Grogan as the Government sets up a panel of experts to review events that should be available for free on terrestrial TV.
Several high-profile events are in the Group A list, guaranteeing full live coverage for free, including the football World Cup, the FA Cup Final and the Grand National.
Highlights are guaranteed for events in Group B, such as the Ryder Cup and cricket test matches played in England.
The panel, headed by former FA boss David Davis, will review the principle of having a list, the criteria against which events may be listed and the content of any list.
Having more protected events could benefit licensees that don't subscribe to Sky or Setanta. However, those that do may feel their competitive advantage would be lost.
Grogan said "the outcome of the review could go either way".
"I hope the pub industry associations and individual licensees will submit evidence to the committee.
"The first thing is to defend events already on the list — it's important for many pubs that are never going to be able to afford subscription TV, but nevertheless benefit when a big event is shown."
He suggested the final day of the Ryder Cup, Ashes cricket, plus football World Cup and European Championship qualifying games involving British teams should be protected.
Meanwhile, governing bodies of major sports have made a voluntary agreement to try to ensure their main events are made free-to-air.
Members of the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), including the Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Rugby Football League, agreed to solicit bids for broadcast rights from free-to-air providers.
