BBC expected to bid again for Boat Race after ITV drops event

Television rights to the Boat Race have been put up for grabs after ITV pulled out of broadcasting the event.

The annual clash between the Oxford and Cambridge university rowing teams on the Thames may now return to the BBC, where it was a fixture for more than 50 years.

Despite the interest in rowing generated by British successes in the Bejing Olympics and the status of rowers such as Sir Stephen Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, the ITV network, which took over the rights in 2005, said the race had now taken second place to football on its balance sheet.

The network said: "ITV has invested heavily in a fantastic football portfolio and therefore we will not be renewing our contract for the Boat Race, with the 2009 race the last on ITV1.''

It is also likely that ITV is belt-tightening - coverage is very expensive for a 20-minute event.

Bidding for the rights, which may now now be considerably cheaper than when they were lost, is expected to be headed by the BBC, which will be anxious to add it to its much-diminished portfolio of major sporting events. Channel 4 and Five are also likely to be interested, as is Sky, but the organisers are said to be keen to keep it on terrestrial TV.

Since 1998, the race has not been protected under the Government's "crown jewels" rules to ensure major sporting events remain ring-fenced against non-terrestrial networks.

The event switched to ITV at a point when the organisers were keen to maximize the sponsorship and marketing of the race. Although no longer the national institution it once was, the Boat Race still attracts a large audience - 7.6million last year, a 76 per cent increase over the previous year. Organisers have claimed that the worldwide television audience is 120 million, although other estimates have put it closer to 20 million.

The race along four miles of the Thames between Putney and Mortlake, is one of the oldest events in the sporting calendar. It began in 1829 and has been held annually every year apart from the two world wars. The rowers have to be students at either universities.