Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

101 Athletics and television together the top eight European athletic nations, had never been won by Great Britain but there had been great excitement as Great Britain’s men were leading their competition after the first day. As can be imagined, our elation at the success of the athletes was immediately shattered by this news. Bromley, highly embarrassed, said that ITV now wanted only 6 outdoor events and no indoor competitions and could offer £5.5m for the rights to these events for four years. Great Britain won in Gateshead, Linford Christie collected the trophy and suddenly athletics was in all the newspapers. Further negotiations culminated in a showdown at John Bromley’s private dining club the Wig and Pen with Greg Dyke (chairman of the ITV sports group), Stuart McConachie (who had taken over from Richard Russell when the latter left to join Eurosport) and Bromley himself. John Bromley (a legendary winer and diner) had been a member of the Wig and Pen Club for years and was a regular. Located on London’s Strand opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, the Wig and Pen was a Dickensian establishment with narrow, twisting stairs that led to numerous private dining rooms. As the name implies, it was a haunt of lawyers and journalists. Bromley had reserved one such room. The food was excellent but there was much at stake. Greg Dyke made it clear at the outset that he wanted to keep athletics on ITV but that he had to justify it. After a long lunch, the deal was finally done and ITV agreed to pay £7m for a four year contract to broadcast 6 outdoor events (5 of which would be on the important Friday night schedule) and 3 indoor events; and Channel 4 would cover the British League clubs cup final and maybe some other events. The contract details had to be worked out before the vital signatures would be added so there was still plenty of opportunity for a last minute hitch. The deal that the three negotiators were so relieved to have won immediately ran into flak from within the sport, with accusations of selling out road and cross country and the Celtic regions. The Northern Irish Association complained that the Ulster Games was its financial lifeblood and the Southern Counties threatened to withdraw its Crystal Palace event from the deal as a gesture of solidarity with its allies.