Premier League scores approval for UK broadcast renewal deals
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 13 May 2021
Having just faced down the European Super League, the English Premier League (EPL) has netted again with its clubs unanimously agreeing to conclude a three-year renewal of the League’s UK live and non-live football broadcast agreements with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport.
Premier League broacast PPV 16 NOv 2020
The EPL has now confirmed that the UK renewals for the next broadcast cycle - from seasons 2022/2023 to 2024/2025 - will be concluded at the same overall value as the current arrangements between the Premier League and its broadcast partners. This follows approval in principle for the renewal from the Government.

The approval from Government will be embodied in an Exclusion Order under the Competition Act 1998, which will enable the Premier League to conclude the renewals without conducting its normal broadcast rights tender process. In light of the damaging impact of the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the English football pyramid, the Premier League was able to demonstrate to Government exceptional and compelling reasons for the Exclusion Order.

In February 2018, Sky and BT retained principal Premier League football rights in a three-season deal valued at £4.5 billion. Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport gained right to show a select number of games on their respective digital channels. There had been much consternation among EPL clubs that the next tranche of broadcast rights would be fixed at a much lower rate, as has been the case in other markets such as France, and after seeing the Premier League’s Chinese rights renegotiated downwards following the collapse of the original deal. Since the Covid-19 outbreak led to the 2019/20 season being out on hold from March to June 2020, the clubs had to return to rights owners a sum said to be in the region of £227 million, £170 of which deferred until the forthcoming 2021/22 season.in November 2020, the EPL abandoned its scheme to show fixtures not previously scheduled on TV platforms on a pay-per-view basis.

The EPL added that the renewals will provide financial certainty to clubs throughout professional football as a result of maintaining current levels of support and enables the League to commit to increased funding through the English football pyramid.

“The Premier League would like to express our gratitude to our broadcast partners for their continued commitment to the Premier League and support for the football pyramid,” said Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. “We are hugely appreciative of the Government agreeing in principle to allow this arrangement and for their continued support for the Premier League and the English game. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on football, and renewals with our UK broadcast partners will reduce uncertainty, generate stability and promote confidence within the football pyramid.”

Adding his comment to the deal, Paolo Pescatore, technology, media and telecoms analyst at PP Foresight said the overall the winner remains the Premier League and the clubs. The big loser he noted were streaming firms eyeing up a cheap opportunity to gain rights.

“This will be a huge blow to DAZN which is keen to add the crown jewels of UK sports broadcasting rights to its fledgling service,” he remarked. “The outcome puts BT in a far stronger position in forging a strategic deal with DAZN. Otherwise, the streamer will be forced to wait another three years at a minimum to get these lucrative sports rights…Arguably more could have been done in the absence of an auction which would have led to a further a decline in the value for the domestic rights. All eyes will now be on the overseas rights and whether the Premier League can maintain or increase the value as per last time.”