Premier League extends existing TV deal with Sky, BT, Amazon and BBC after government exclusion order
The Premier League has committed to giving an additional £100m to ‘vulnerable’ areas of the game most hurt by the pandemic
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Your support makes all the difference.The Premier League has extended its current £5bn broadcast deal with Sky, BT, Amazon and the BBC until the end of the 2024-25 season.
The UK government approved an exclusion order which enabled the league to circumnavigate normal competition rules, meaning the broadcasting rights did not have to put out for tender. In return the Premier League has committed to giving an additional £100m to “vulnerable” areas of the game most hurt by the pandemic.
There was concern the league would have lost hundreds of millions of pounds had the rights been put up for auction as the battle between broadcasters cools. Comcast, which owns Sky Sports, and BT are both intent on moving away from bidding for expensive sports rights. BT is looking to sell a significant stake in BT Sport as it turns its focus to rolling out full fibre broadband.
The Premier League said in a statement that all 20 clubs unanimously agreed the deal, and that the exclusion order was necessary due to the damaging impact of the pandemic and the need to ensure the game’s financial future.
The Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters said: “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.
“We are hugely appreciative of the government agreeing in principle to allow this arrangement and for its 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.
“We know that, once concluded, this will have a positive impact on the wider industry, jobs and tax revenues and will enable us to maintain and increase our existing solidarity and community financial commitments to the football pyramid for the next four years, even though we are yet to understand the full impact of the pandemic.
“It comes at an important time and will enable us to plan ahead with increased certainty against a more stable economic backdrop.
“Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport are excellent partners and provide fantastic coverage and programming to bring our competition to fans in the UK.”
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