Channel 5 could opt not to show Manchester United's Europa League matches despite the club's games being available to the broadcaster for the first time after their shock Champions League exit.
Channel 5 has the first pick of all Europa League fixtures but a spokeswoman indicated that United's status as England's best-supported club does not automatically make them the preferred choice.
Factors such as the draw and kick-off times will be taken into account, and if away matches were scheduled for 4pm against obscure opposition it may prove dissuasive.
With Europa League games to be played on a Thursday it is unlikely United or Manchester City would wish to diminish their title challenges by fielding full-strength sides. There is an argument that a United second string including Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda and Fábio da Silva may be less of a draw than City's, with Adam Johnson, James Milner and Samir Nasri.
United were formally greeted by Channel 5, whose press office wrote in a message posted on Twitter: "A warm welcome to Manchester United to [sic] the C5 team ... #europaleague". But the studio team of Jim Rosenthal, Stan Collymore and Pat Nevin – accompanied by the commentators Dave Woods and Graham Taylor – must wait to discover whether they will cover Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Europa League matches are also broadcast by ITV4 but the nation's biggest commercial broadcaster was not celebrating the Manchester clubs' disappointments, even though they will help boost its Thursday offering. ITV1 also carries Champions League coverage and the group's head of sport, Niall Sloane, said: "We would have preferred for the two Manchester clubs to be in the Champions League. But it will be good for ITV4's figures, depending on who we get."
ITV shares the second selection of picks from the Europa League with ESPN. By rotation in each leg of a round one broadcaster is able to pick the second- and fifth-choice matches, or the third- and fourth-choice games.
ESPN's Paul Melvin said: "Making your selections is more of an art than a science. We're very happy for what it means for our opportunity to cover United and City but we have a lot of top-quality teams. We've known for a while this is a high-quality competition and this is an opportunity for even greater exposure from it." With Channel 5 having reserved its main pick for Tottenham Hotspur, the two other broadcasters had been picking from a group of four other English and Scottish clubs. They have been Birmingham City, Celtic, Fulham and Stoke City.
Spurs have treated the tournament as less of a priority than their Premier League commitments, in which they have risen to third. But the price paid for that choice has seen the north London team lose to Rubin Kazan and Paok Salonika, risking elimination from the competition with a game to play. Birmingham and Celtic are also struggling to qualify from their groups after five matches.
However, a win over Group K's bottom side, Odense, would put Fulham through in their last match and Stoke have qualified from Group E and know a draw at Besiktas next Wednesday would guarantee they emerge as its winners.