The Premier League’s television rights continue to attract interest and spark bidding wars around the world, with the latest deal being with major American broadcaster ESPN.
Premier League broadcast deals are worth huge amounts of money (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
The Premier League has agreed a new television rights deal with ESPN worth £450m. League leaders have extended the contract with the American broadcaster until 2031.
However, the new contract represents a 25% increase over the value of the current contract. ESPN will continue to retain the rights to broadcast live Premier League matches in South America and the Caribbean.
As first reported by the Guardian, the top-flight club was informed of the new contract at a general meeting last Friday. Executives are also being updated on the status of TV rights in other regions that are coming up for renewal soon, which could be another timely injection of capital.
The £450m increase from ESPN comes as the domestic TV rights market has fallen slightly, despite increased interest overseas. The Premier League’s deals with Sky Sports and TNT Sports are worth a combined £1.67bn, but the new four-year cycle, which began earlier this season, will see some changes.
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UK-based subscribers now have access to more games than ever before. However, the individual value of aired fixtures fell by about 10%.
This reduction in value is part of the reason the Premier League is in talks with the EFL over the lifting of the Saturday 3pm blackout, which could allow UK spectators to watch all 380 games live per season. All games have already been sold in overseas markets.
The next renewal of TV rights in the UK is in 2029, but bidding is expected to begin sooner. But for now, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters insists the power cuts will be “fully tackled”.
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Richard Masters confirmed power outages would continue (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“It’s not a decision we make (alone),” Masters explained at the Leaders Sports Business Conference in October. “This will be done in collaboration with other football bodies, including the English Football League (EFL) and the Football Association (FA).”
Meanwhile, Sky Sports managing director Jonathan Licht believes blackout talks are “coming close”. When the broadcaster launched the Premier League in August, Licht admitted: “There’s obviously a direction in place for 3pm on Saturdays and there’s a lot of conversation and that’s probably going to increase as we go through this cycle.
“This is the conversation we’re about to have.”
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