Sky & TNT retain Premier League rights

[ClaretTony]

Sky Sports has been awarded live rights packages B, C, D and E, covering a minimum of 215 live matches per season, which will include more than 140 matches played at weekends, evening matches on Fridays and Mondays and full coverage of three midweek match rounds. For the first time, Sky Sports will also broadcast all 10 matches on the final day of each season.

TNT Sports has been awarded live rights package A, covering 52 live matches per season, including exclusive coverage of matches played on Saturdays at 12.30pm and full coverage of two midweek match rounds.

For the first time in the UK, all matches taking place outside of the Saturday 3pm "closed period", including those displaced to Sunday 2pm because of club participation in European competitions, will be broadcast live.

BBC Sport has been awarded highlights rights for all 380 Premier League matches each season, with additional digital rights for the BBC’s online platforms. The agreement will see BBC Match of the Day continue to bring Premier League action to millions of viewers each week, alongside a full range of additional programming.

The announced agreements will deliver a total of £6.7billion in revenue across the four-year period, inclusive of a four per cent increase in live rights value compared to the previous process.


The five packages

Package A
Total matches: 52 (18 second picks; 14 fourth picks; all 20 matches as part of 4th and 5th midweek rounds)
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one.
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 12.30

Package B
Total matches: 50* (14 first picks; 18 fifth picks; approximately 6-10 rescheduled matches but not at Sunday 14.00)
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 17.30

Package C
Total matches: 66* (14 second picks; 18 fourth picks; 30-38 rescheduled matches at Sunday 14.00)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Sunday 14.00

Package D
Total matches: 44* (18 first picks; 13 third picks; up to two Round 37; all 10 Final Round)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches at Sunday 16.30

Package E
Total matches: 58 (18 third picks; 14 fifth picks; all 20 matches as part of 1st and 2nd midweek rounds; six additional matches)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches on Monday/Friday evenings

[Florian]

Bastards

[Bosscat]

Bastards

They aren't in the Premier League

[GodIsADeeJay81]

£6.7 billion is quite low when you consider the popularity of the league itself

I guess it also means we won’t be getting a decent app anytime soon for watching all the games, like the Yanks get for their sports

[Wokingclaret]

Surprised Amazon didn't get anything

[summitclaret]

According to this it's a 70% increase on live coverage. So if there is a 4% revenue increase as per CT's post, the product value has slumped, especially as it's a 4 year deal and there's been high inflation. Wonder if Amazon etc. bid?

[summitclaret]

https://news.sky.com/story/sky-has-won- ... l-13023003

[ClaretTony]

I’ve not had any chance to evaluate it, I just got the relevant parts of the release on here.

I was surprised there was no Prime.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Maybe they just don’t feel it’s worth it

They won’t beat Sky for the big packages, there’s other stuff they’d rather invest in for the long term

[dsr]

According to this it's a 70% increase on live coverage. So if there is a 4% revenue increase as per CT's post, the product value has slumped, especially as it's a 4 year deal and there's been high inflation. Wonder if Amazon etc. bid?

There may be a 70% increase in the number of matches to watch, but there is a negligible increase in the number we can watch live because the extra 70% are mostly at the same time as another match (eg. Sundays, or the last match of the season). Agreed, though, it's less than inflation, so the value has dropped.

[NottsClaret]

The bubble hasn't burst but TV income has definitely peaked. The only option is to give more and more games away to try and keep the same money coming in. The 'unofficial' streaming services were inevitably going to hit the value of these deals eventually.

[burnmark]

I’ve just read that more than half of the PL games will not be 3pm Saturday kick offs.

[randomclaret2]

Lets hope we're in there to get a slice of the pie

[bobinho]

Surprised Amazon didn't get anything

I imagine they’d like sky to be taken to the monopolies commission, but they probably run that too…

[Vegas Claret]

More Friday and Monday games, just what we all asked for, get in there.........

[dsr]

I’ve just read that more than half of the PL games will not be 3pm Saturday kick offs.

That's the case now, isn't it? It's rare to have 6 or more 3 PM kickoffs, and that's before we start counting Boxing Day and midweeks and the last day of the season.

[getbennyon]

The biggest problem for the Premier League is the British economy isn't growing and hasn't done so for about 15 years. This lack of growth means the Premier League are having to squeeze all the juice out of live games as the population isn't becoming wealthier. It's becoming increasingly difficult for the Premier League to remain the number 1 football league when you see the constant growth of the American economy and Saudi Arabia/Asia to the East, money talks and the best players will go where the money is.

I suspect this will be the final decade of Premier League dominance.

[Fretters]

Really don't understand why the PL haven't yet launched their own streaming service direct to the consumer.

One day we'll pay a monthly subscription and be able to choose any game, I'm sure of it.

[Murger]

So more non 3pm kicks offs then? Dunno if I can be arsed renewing my ST (if we’re still in the league).

[Vegas Claret]

The biggest problem for the Premier League is the British economy isn't growing and hasn't done so for about 15 years. This lack of growth means the Premier League are having to squeeze all the juice out of live games as the population isn't becoming wealthier. It's becoming increasingly difficult for the Premier League to remain the number 1 football league when you see the constant growth of the American economy and Saudi Arabia/Asia to the East, money talks and the best players will go where the money is.

I suspect this will be the final decade of Premier League dominance.

the Saudi's won't do anything until their population are genuinely interested and turn up in numbers to watch games. Football without fans is nothing as covid proved and when Jordan Henderson and his mate are playing in front of less than 500 fans it's a pointless exercise. No chance this will be the last decade of dominance, the Americans are just getting started with it and when you look how much money the NFL makes which appeals mainly to one market.........

[Taffy on the wing]

£6.7 billion is quite low when you consider the popularity of the league itself

I guess it also means we won’t be getting a decent app anytime soon for watching all the games, like the Yanks get for their sports

It really is strange........i come to the UK & never get to see the game i want.
Over here every single game is broadcast.....same with the Cricket, this year i bought the Ashes series, i watched the first couple & then we went to England & France & missed the rest...terrible!
SKY charges away too much in comparison to here!

[Taffy on the wing]

The biggest problem for the Premier League is the British economy isn't growing and hasn't done so for about 15 years. This lack of growth means the Premier League are having to squeeze all the juice out of live games as the population isn't becoming wealthier. It's becoming increasingly difficult for the Premier League to remain the number 1 football league when you see the constant growth of the American economy and Saudi Arabia/Asia to the East, money talks and the best players will go where the money is.

I suspect this will be the final decade of Premier League dominance.

Folk need to stop voting Conservative!.....Oh hang on, the alternative is Kier Starmer...never mind

[CharlieinNewMexico]

According to this it's a 70% increase on live coverage. So if there is a 4% revenue increase as per CT's post, the product value has slumped, especially as it's a 4 year deal and there's been high inflation. Wonder if Amazon etc. bid?

Didn’t bid.
The impetus from the last couple of years has been fun but not profitable

[Papabendi]

There may be a 70% increase in the number of matches to watch, but there is a negligible increase in the number we can watch live because the extra 70% are mostly at the same time as another match (eg. Sundays, or the last match of the season). Agreed, though, it's less than inflation, so the value has dropped.

70% is the increase in Sky's coverage. Not the increase in total live games which is around half that increase. The value of the price per game has dropped, Sky will be happy. But the PL will also be a happy with an increase to the headline number which is more important to them, at a time when the value of TV rights for other leagues is falling in Europe. Will also be a good message for PL overseas negotiations.

[Chester Perry]

Somehow missed this thread last night

key takeaways

1.) a longer deal and a substantial increase in games have been necessary to essentially maintain a level of income for the fourth consecutive cycle

2.) The Premier Leagues preference of working with broadcast partners over the long term, for mutual benefit has unsurprisingly been maintained, with the packages deliberately structured to:
- allow Sky to maintain dominance (just look at all the other Comcast/Sky deals around the world where the Premier League have deals, they are dominant in all i think., probably supplying two thirds of all Premier League broadcast income.
- maintain a second domestic broadcast partner as competition legislation demands. That package was specifically constructed for then (and to exclude amazon)
- Amazon were gifted their first Premier League deal, the price covered the cost of the Premier Leagues broadcasting costs (Amazon just relayed the broadcasts and fronted them with their own pundits), but have never shown willingness to pay a true going rate so they were effectively excluded.

3.) It will be interesting to see how global rights go as the major markets are already tied into a two cycle deal

4.) Premier League solidarity payments to the rest of English Football are increasing significantly, it is possible that Premier League clubs will see reductions in distributions going forward.

[FCBurnley]

Who bought the Firestick rights ?

[Chester Perry]

Who bought the Firestick rights ?

That depends on what you mean

The current amazon package was merged with the Saturday lunchtime one which TNT have retained

The illegal firestick distribution (for all 380 Premier League games) remain stolen from global media partners, though I think you already know that

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Really don't understand why the PL haven't yet launched their own streaming service direct to the consumer.

One day we'll pay a monthly subscription and be able to choose any game, I'm sure of it.

Won’t be until after 2030, if at all

[Chester Perry]

Really don't understand why the PL haven't yet launched their own streaming service direct to the consumer.

One day we'll pay a monthly subscription and be able to choose any game, I'm sure of it.

Signing up new subscribers to justify the guaranteed spend on the rights a new football service, via streaming or pay tv is problematic for service providers - witness the Itv digital fiasco, Media pro in France, Viaplay (and its various incarnations such as Setanta, Nent and Premier Sports) and the various struggles of DAZN.

What the Premier League get from it's established partners is a level of certainty in it's revenues without the rish (and very substantial upfront costs of going it alone. If the legalities for a single point of distribution allowed then you would imagine someone like Apple TV may be interested, but even they may baulk at the upfront cost, while they look to build a customer base.

as GIADJ suggest, the risk of the upfront costs against the short term rewards, combined with competition legislation in different markets may mean a legal/sanctioned single source never happens

[dsr]

Is this starting from next season, or the year after?

[Chester Perry]

Is this starting from next season, or the year after?

year after 2025/26

[Fretters]

Signing up new subscribers to justify the guaranteed spend on the rights a new football service, via streaming or pay tv is problematic for service providers - witness the Itv digital fiasco, Media pro in France, Viaplay (and its various incarnations such as Setanta, Nent and Premier Sports) and the various struggles of DAZN.

What the Premier League get from it's established partners is a level of certainty in it's revenues without the rish (and very substantial upfront costs of going it alone. If the legalities for a single point of distribution allowed then you would imagine someone like Apple TV may be interested, but even they may baulk at the upfront cost, while they look to build a customer base.

as GIADJ suggest, the risk of the upfront costs against the short term rewards, combined with competition legislation in different markets may mean a legal/sanctioned single source never happens

Thanks CP, always enjoy reading your input. I'm sure millions more - including many who currently watch illegally - would pay c£10 per month for buffer-fee live action, but would it result in more revenue than those who currently pay SKY+TNT c£40 per month, I really don't know.

[Papabendi]

I assume you have plucked £10 a month out of thin air. I highly doubt the PL could build a subscriber base from scratch, allowing for all the costs that come with running a service (we shall ignore also the slight issue of what happens when there is no PL over the summer) and achieve the same revenues as they do today simply running an action. They would need multiples of the paid viewership achieved today. A big risk.

And it wouldn't eliminate piracy at low cost, either. Some people always want things for free provided that option is there.

[forzagranata]

People have been predicting/hoping that the PL would go to all-streaming sometime in the near future and also expecting that Amazon, You Tube, Apple etc would come in with amazing offers to stream the whole thing. But it doesn't happen and there are good reasons.

As CP points out - you would have to do very well to be able to guarantee clubs 6 billion from a brand new streaming service. People can project earnings and talk of potential side-benefits etc, but the PL is run by the clubs and they aren't ready to walk away from guaranteed income anytime soon.

There are other benefits to Sky other than the direct revenue from the rights sale. Primarily it is the constant 24/7 promotion of the PL, the pushing of the stories around the league, its clubs and personalities. Sky is a non-stop publicity machine for the league.

Why does that matter? Well, lets look at what has happened to MLS in the US who DID go all-in on streaming via Apple TV. They signed a ten year deal with Apple and every single game is broadcast live on Apple. It was hailed as 'revolutionary'. Its actually pretty good for subscribers to the service but MLS has totally vanished from ESPN, almost vanished from Fox Sports and is nowhere else to be seen. So when the big games come along at the end of the season - its only the committed hardcore that are watching.

The biggest problem for the consumer is that the PL is on two services, Sky and TNT, requiring two subscriptions to see all the games. That was initially forced by the EU, who ruled that Sky were acting as a monopoly when they had the whole package. Obviously we don't have to abide by that EU ruling anymore but it still serves the purpose of the clubs to have two broadcasters, with a degree of competition between them. It just doesn't serve the consumer very well.

[Papabendi]

There are other benefits to Sky other than the direct revenue from the rights sale. Primarily it is the constant 24/7 promotion of the PL, the pushing of the stories around the league, its clubs and personalities. Sky is a non-stop publicity machine for the league.

There are indirect revenue advantages to Sky owning the rights too. Through the bundling of other subscriptions packages or 'buy through' as it is more commonly known in the industry