Telekom Srbija locks down Premier League rights in six-year deal

Telekom Srbija-owned Arena Sport has acquired the broadcast rights to the English Premier League in the Balkan region.

Under the terms of the six-year deal, spanning from 2022/23 to 2027/28, Arena Sport will screen all 380 fixtures per season, replacing rival broadcaster Sportklub as the region’s Premier League rights-holder.

United Media-owned Sportklub carried the English top-flight from 2019/20 to 2021/22, acquiring the rights from IMG.

Nebojsa Zugic, Director of the Arena Channels Group, explained: “Telekom Srbija, a leader in the field of telecommunications and multimedia in this part of Europe, stands firmly behind Arena Channels Group.

“We believe that this is a great victory for all of us. The Premier League is the top of world club football and it is a great privilege to have it in our offer.”

Meanwhile, iQiyi Sports has landed the rights to the English top-flight in China, picking up the exclusive digital media rights in a four-year agreement from 2021/22 to 2024/25 after its deal with PP Sports fell through, with the Premier League yet to award the linear rights in the region. As part of the partnership, the broadcaster will offer live coverage of all matches each season.

The agreements are the latest in a long line of Premier League renewals, after the league launched an invitation to tender in more than 40 European and Central Asian countries in May.

Most recently, subscription sports streaming service DAZN renewed the rights to the Premier League in Spain, whilst the Nordic Entertainment Group landed the rights to the English top-tier in the Netherlands, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Elsewhere, Telenet retained the rights to the Premier League in Belgium and Canal Plus secured a deal in France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

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