The Premier League has come to an agreement with NBC Sports, renewing its $2.5 billion (£2 billion) media rights contract with the US sports broadcasting network for a further six-years.
As a result of the deal, NBC will broadcast all 380 English top-flight matches each season with an added option for SPanish coverage, having seen off competition from rival media outlets ESPN, CBS and Warner.
For the League, the renewal sees the top-tier division maintain course to break its existing media rights record of £11 billion, although its contracts in the Middle East and Africa are yet to be resolved, and a bidding battle for Australian media rights is set to commence between current holder Optus and Stan Sports, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime.
Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League, said; “Interest in the Premier League is going from strength to strength and it is great to see the growing global demand to watch our matches and engage with the league.
“Our international and domestic broadcast revenues over the next cycle will give stability and certainty to the game as a whole, which is particularly important as football recovers from COVID-19 losses.
“We are proud to provide more investment into our football pyramid than any other football league in the world.”
The agreement with NBC follows on from the Premier League’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), enabling it to renew its British arrangements with Sky Sports and BT Sport without the need for the bidding contest.
Governmental intervention occurred due to COVID-19 related circumstances, as during the 2020/21 football season – the schedule of which was interrupted by the outbreak of the virus and subsequent lockdowns – authorities allowed spectator-less matches to be broadcast via terrestrial television channels, including the Saturday 3pm fixtures which previously had gone uncovered.
The renewal of its domestic broadcast contracts will see the Premier League gain £5.5 billion over the next three years, with this figure likely bolstered through the aforementioned established and pending media rights deals, with foreign agreements set to surpass domestic takings for the first time.
