The English Premier League has sold the majority of its TV matchday broadcast rights for the period spanning 2019-2022.
Updating stakeholders, Premier League governance details that it has sold two live broadcast packages to Sky Sports and BT Sport for a total sum of £4.46 billion.
The Premier League still has two packages of 40 matchday broadcasts remaining to be sold, with league executives confident of matching or beating its previous 2015-2019 TV rights deal of £5 billion.
Beginning season 2019/2020, Sky Sports is set to broadcast 128 live Premier League matches for UK audiences. Securing the majority of live broadcasts, Sky Sports dedicated ‘Premier League Channels’ will deliver programming for the following EPL schedule;
- 32 EPL Saturday 17.30 matches
- 24 EPL matches on Sundays at 14:00
- 8 EPL Saturdays matches at 20:00
- 32 EPL matches on Sundays at 16:30
- 24 EPL Monday/Friday night matches at 20:00
- 8 EPL Sunday matches at 14:00
UK broadcast rival, BTSport has secured 32 Saturday 12:30 ‘lunchtime’ fixtures.
In its latest TV rights tender, the Premier League has increased the number of live matchday broadcasts to 200 from 168 allowed for 2015-2019 bidding.
Expanding its coverage, the Premier League will allow Sky Sports to broadcast 8 ‘Saturday 20:00 PrimeTime’ matches for the first time.
Confirming its secured coverage, Sky UK governance stated that the new Premier League broadcast schedule would enhance its recently revamped channel format for Sky Sports, focusing on dedicated sports channels for its customers.
Stephen van Rooyen, Sky’s UK Chief Executive, commented on coverage: “We continue to invest in content that our customers value and which complements our strategy to broaden our offer. Not only do we remain the home of Premier League football but also the home of top quality drama, entertainment, comedy and other sports. Our disciplined approach means we continue to have the flexibility to invest in each of these areas as we choose, underlining our position as Europe’s largest investor in content.”
Media speculation is growing with regards to the Premier League’s remaining broadcast packages, with US tech giants Amazon, Facebook and Apple reported to be considering lucrative bids to strengthen their UK product propositions through football content.
2018 will be a transformative year for all global media stakeholders. Last December the Murdoch family decided to sell its controlling stake in 21st Century Fox and Sky UK assets to Walt Disney & Co for $55 billion.
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