The league will probably need an aggressive bid by ESPN to maintain its rights values. Its last deal, in 2007, was concluded at a time when the now-defunct UK pay-television platform Setanta was bidding aggressively against Sky for sports rights, pushing up prices for a number of properties, including the RFL’s.
Lewis said at the weekend that ESPN had already expressed an interest and that the BBC would face competition from other terrestrial broadcasters for the cup.
“This is the third bidding process I’ve been involved with and there’s more interest from more broadcasters than ever before,” Lewis said. “We put the tender document out for prospective bidders this week and it will be a couple of months I think before we have a clear sign of who’s going to win the bidding. It’s very competitive and it’s all to play for, frankly.
“There’s ESPN who are active in the marketplace and already showing rugby union, so I don’t think I’m divulging any secrets by saying that it’s no surprise that ESPN are looking at it very seriously. Once you throw in the mix that the Challenge Cup has become very interesting and attractive to other terrestrial broadcasters, I think that creates a new dynamic for the whole rights bidding process. I think the BBC is very vulnerable to losing the rights to the Challenge Cup. There’s more interest than I’ve ever known and I think it’s a real possibility the Challenge Cup could end up somewhere else,” Lewis said.