The Premier League will move its in-house media operations business in-house for the first time in over 20 years.
A decision was made last Friday following a league shareholder’s meeting, in which all clubs unanimously agreed to move its media operations in-house, resulting in the end of the Premier League and IMG’s partnership at the end of the 2025/26 season.
Whilst the 20-year plus partnership will come to an end, Premier League Productions – the co-created entity between the Premier League and IMG, will continue to “deliver the next two Premier League seasons to broadcasters and remain committed to providing a first-class viewing experience for fans around the world”.
Premier League Chief Media Officer, Paul Molnar, said: “IMG has been a fantastic partner for the Premier League over the past 20 years. They have worked tirelessly on our behalf to provide world-class content and services to our international partners.
“During this time, our partnership has been at the forefront of broadcast innovation to deliver top-class programming week in, week out throughout the season. This has all come together to play a vital role in growing our global audiences and popularity.
“As we move the media production operations in-house, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a best-in-class content service to our partners and millions of passionate fans around the world.”
By moving its domestic and international media content production all in-house come the start of the 2026/27 season, the Premier League will no longer leverage IMG’s technology and expertise for broadcast and digital platform production.
Furthermore, when it comes to negotiating both domestic and international broadcast rights deals, IMG will no longer be on hand to assist in these agreements.
Barney Francis, EVP, Studios, at IMG said: “Our work with the Premier League has been game-changing, both for how fans enjoy football, and for the growth of the Premier League’s international audience and business.
“Working at the cutting edge of sports production for 20 years, we are proud to have launched many innovations together – from PLTV in 2010, which opened up the global TV rights market, to the transition from SD to HD, and then to 4K.
“We have built a state-of-the art virtual studio, produced award-winning digital content and introduced new cameras and feeds that have made the Premier League’s programming a gold standard for global sports broadcasting. With IMG’s wider production work for rightsholders such as the EFL, MLS and Apple, the Saudi Pro League, EuroLeague and ETP, we are continuing to power live sports broadcasting, leveraging new technologies and reaching wider audiences as our business continues to grow internationally.”
The decision to move Premier League operations in-house comes after a report from SportsProMedia revealed that the Premier League’s domestic and international commercial and broadcast revenue has increased by 17% to £12.25bn for the next three years.
The figures were revealed during the same shareholder’s meeting last Friday, with the league attracting significant interest from multiple overseas markets, boosting its value and garnering additional revenue.
Whilst the Premier League has already agreed a new domestic broadcast rights deal with Sky Sports and TNT Sports worth £6.7bn, which is set to start next season through to the end of the 2028/29 season, the increase of media rights valuations and moving its media operations in-house is projected to provide the league and its clubs with more revenue over the coming years.
The decision to move Premier League operations in-house has also brought about the possibility of the English top-flight to launch its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming platform for fans.
A dedicated Premier League streaming platform could be groundbreaking for the league and its fans as it would remove the need for subscriptions for Sky Sports and TNT Sports in favour of a more cost effective monthly subscription to the potential streaming service.
However, if its domestic and international broadcast rights continue to surge in value by the end of the incoming broadcast rights deal, the Premier League may see more value in signing a new deal with interested broadcasters to make more revenue than a standalone DTC platform.
Alternatively, if a DTC platform is strongly considered, the league may opt for a similar approach to how the NBA handles out-of-market games to be shown on its DTC platform NBA League Pass. This may mean an end to the 3pm blackout rule that has been enforced since the 1960s.
