BBC expects to lose more sports rights due to budget cuts

The BBC has admitted that it is likely to lose further sports rights because of a £35m cut to its budget.

It was announced today that the Corporation was planning to make £150m of total savings to "address a shortfall in funding", £35m of which was from the sports rights budget.

The Open golf tournament and Six Nations rugby have already been partly relinquished recently and other significant cuts are expected to be made.

A statement read: "Meeting this savings target will be tough, particularly given the high levels of inflation in the market.

"We therefore anticipate this will lead to the loss of some existing rights and events. We have already made some tough choices which have contributed to the savings, for instance around The Open golf.

"However, we have also recently secured a series of important rights - including Wimbledon, Premier League highlights, live coverage of Euro 2016 and 2020 football championships and Six Nations rugby shared with ITV."

Premier League highlights show Match of the Day is secured until 2019, but sports such as Formula 1, snooker and darts could be under threat.