Pathetic BBC World Cup decision proves it’s time to stop licence fee | Football | Sport

The 2026 World Cup is well underway and across North America, the greatest sporting spectacle on Earth is getting the blockbuster treatment it deserves. Stadiums are packed (well, most of them), the atmosphere is electric and TV networks from Tokyo to Toronto have spared no expense to capture the sheer scale and magnificence of the event.

And then, there’s the BBC… who has put as much effort into its World Cup coverage as Cristiano Ronaldo does when he’s tracking back. The fact that the broadcaster hasn’t bothered to build an on-location studio in North America for the opening rounds of fixtures annoys me more than the concept of affordable match tickets annoys Gianni Infantino. We’re talking about the pinnacle of international football, a tournament that stops the globe. And yet, while the rest of the civilised world has descended on the United States, Canada and Mexico with fervour, the bosses at Broadcasting House have decided to stay home, put their slippers on, and watch it on the telly.

The contrast couldn’t be more embarrassing. While the ITV lot are lounging in a swanky, bank-breaking rooftop studio in Brooklyn with stunning views of the Manhattan skyline, the Beeb’s team have made do with an oversized shed in Salford.

Let that sink in. ITV – a commercial broadcaster funded by adverts, not a mandatory stealth tax on anyone with a television – is treating its viewers like adults. They understand that presentation matters. They understand that to capture the magic of a World Cup, you actually need to be there.

Meanwhile, Auntie has opted for a dreary green-screen setup in Greater Manchester. It’s the sort of pathetic, cheapskate stunt I’d expect from Mike Ashley hosting a wedding reception at a Harvester.

It’s the friggin’ World Cup for goodness’ sake, the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet, and the BBC is treating it like a late-night weather forecast on a budget news channel.

And don’t give me this patronising, bootlicking garbage about “saving taxpayer money” or “cutting carbon emissions.” If you think I should be grateful to the BBC for being fiscally and environmentally responsible by keeping Gabby Logan and Co. trapped in a digital box in Lancashire, then your mind is as warped as Chelsea‘s transfer strategy.

Besides, since when did the BBC care about fiscal responsibility? This is an organisation that leaks cash like a rusted sieve on woke diversity initiatives, bloated executive salaries and endless middle-management consultants. But when it comes to giving the British public a vibrant, world-class broadcast of the national game’s biggest event, suddenly the Beeb becomes the champions of austerity.

It is rank hypocrisy. If the BBC wants to save the planet and cut emissions, start by turning off the lights at Broadcasting House permanently.

I pay my licence fee precisely so the BBC can make a good-looking, quality product. That is the entire social contract of the licence fee – a contract the BBC has been breaking for years. You can’t take my hard-earned cash, deliver a piece of digital rubbish that looks like it was rendered on a Nintendo 64, and then spend the rest lining Alan Shearer’s pockets with a six-figure salary his punditry skills absolutely do not warrant.

Like anyone who buys a ticket to watch Tottenham, we are being charged a premium price for a bargain-bin product. Watching the BBC’s coverage feels less like watching a multi-billion-pound tournament and more like watching a twitch streamer playing Pro Evo 6 in their spare bedroom.

The lack of authenticity, of occasion, of excitement – honestly, it feels like sitting in the home end at the Etihad Stadium. It just screams of a broadcaster that has utterly given up trying to earn our respect.

The BBC knows it doesn’t have to try. Why would it? Under the current law, you have to pay them regardless of whether they broadcast from a New York City rooftop or a MediaCity broom cupboard. It’s a captive market, and this Salford studio is the ultimate manifestation of their arrogance. They think we will just sit back, accept the mediocrity and keep direct-debiting our hard-earned money into their bank accounts.

Well, the British public has had enough. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. If they’re forcing us to fork out money for Martin Keown’s miserable commentary and Wayne Rooney’s half-time gummy bears, then we should just switch off.

Appearances matter. If the BBC can’t pull their fingers out and build a real, on-location set for the World Cup, then I’ll be as tuned in to their broadcasts as Zack Polanski is to the everyday concerns of normal Brits – seeing as most of them aren’t avocado-munching, Israel-hating, breast-enlargement-hypnotist weirdos like him.

The BBC’s North American ghost act is a middle finger to every single licence fee payer in the country. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the corporation no longer feels any obligation to deliver value for money, and the licence fee should be scrapped. It has checked out.

It’s time we checked out too. Grab the remote, flick straight over to ITV, and let Salford’s oversized shed rot in darkness. If the bosses at Broadcasting House can’t be bothered to show up for the biggest tournament on Earth, they don’t deserve our eyeballs. Turn over, tune out and leave them to broadcast their budget digital rubbish to an empty room.