Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

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tiger76
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Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

Post by tiger76 » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:01 pm

I didn't see a thread on this https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58075012

Staggering that the PL alone has lost £2bn during this period, I guess this just shows how reliant clubs are on the TV money.

Chester Perry
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Re: Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:04 pm

This news has been known for some time now - it has just been officially ratified

Chester Perry
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Re: Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

Post by Chester Perry » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:13 pm

This is a good read on the deal
Chester Perry wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:27 pm
This analysis of the Premier Leagues Domestic TV rights roll over from PP Foresight founder Paolo Pescatore for SportsProMedia reads a lot like my own analysis of the deal, it does however carry the warning of a potential sting in the tail of the distributions, regardless of the deal struck withthe government over the extra £100m

Jamie Gardner | The Premier League’s renewed domestic rights deal suits all parties, for now
After the Premier League agreed to extend its domestic broadcast deals, PA Media's chief sports reporter speaks to PP Foresight founder, Paolo Pescatore, about the implications for English soccer.

By Jamie Gardner Posted: June 2 2021

The renewal of the Premier League's existing domestic television deals for a further three years allows time for the "digital divide" to be bridged which might allow the league to consider a more revolutionary approach to selling its rights next time around.

Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport have an agreement in principle to roll over the three-year deal which began in 2018 for a further three years from 2022 to 2025, subject to the UK government issuing a special order under the Competition Act to allow the private sale to proceed.

Paolo Pescatore, a technology, media and telecommunications analyst who is the founder of PP Foresight, sees very few negatives for those involved in the deal, given the current market conditions.

Some analysts I have spoken to had expected the Premier League and its clubs to consider at least a small direct-to-consumer element in this new domestic deal. Pescatore believes the infrastructure is not there this time, but could be next time.

"Any approach is reliant on having a reliable and robust telecoms infrastructure," he said. "There are still concerns of delivering live sport at scale without technical issues such as lag, buffering, pixellation.

"People still struggle in getting a signal on their smartphones which remains one of the biggest obstacles to adoption. More needs to be done to bridge the digital divide and ensure robust and reliable connectivity for all users."

The Premier League need look no further than the difficulties experienced in streaming Glastonbury's 'Live At Worthy Farm' event recently for evidence of how perilous an area this can still be. But Pescatore believes it is almost certainly a space the Premier League is ready to move into.

"There is a fine delicate balance of maximising the value compared to cannibalisation," he said.

"Change is imminent and over the next cycles we will see the Premier League pivot towards a new approach. While Netflix has paved the way, success is not guaranteed, and there have been casualties."

While an extension of the deal clearly suited Sky Sports and BT Sport, whose business models are built around these rights, the benefits to Amazon Prime of extending its ten per cent share of live matches seemed less obvious. After picking up a small package three years ago, the online retail giant was arguably well placed to have bid for a bigger stake this time around.

However, Pescatore felt it was the perfect outcome for Amazon too.

"The current set of rights suits Amazon to a tee," he said. "For Amazon, the focus is on driving value for Prime subscribers. Amazon has been steadily increasing its coverage of sport, driving people towards Prime.

"The financials underpinning Premier League are significantly different compared to its other sports rights such as ATP tennis. It’s one thing to pay UK£10 million for ATP rights, and it’s another thing to pay millions on a per Premier League match basis; this excludes the production costs as well.

"Furthermore, Amazon’s current set of Premier League TV rights fits nicely around bundles and packages around the key Christmas trading period. It’s a win-win scenario for Amazon in driving further value among customers."

Digital sports specialist DAZN has not commented since the private sale was announced, but might have been expected to bid had there been an open auction.

The fact that BT Sport remains a right holder could make it an attractive acquisition for DAZN, after BT confirmed it was in discussions with selected parties over the future of its sports television arm.

Pescatore said: "The outcome puts BT in a far stronger position in forging a strategic deal with DAZN. In light of this current arrangement, the streamer is forced to wait another three years at a minimum to get these lucrative sports rights."

One thing the league must be wary of, Pescatore believes, is splitting the cake too many ways.

"Fragmentation is a big issue and is an inhibitor to adoption," he said.

"Currently there are too many players that offer different ways of accessing services which require separate billing relationships. The Premier League, along with other sporting associations, need to be wary not to force users to watch events illegally. Piracy is an ongoing problem that is showing no signs of easing up and will only continue to proliferate with further fragmentation or price rises."

The English Football League (EFL) said the renewal was a 'missed opportunity' on the part of the British government to use its leverage in the deal to address what the lower-tier league body sees as the financial divide between the Premier League and everyone else.

The deal includes a further UK£100 million (US$141.6 million) over four years to the English soccer pyramid.

It is understood the EFL will not make representations to the government as part of the consultation over the special order, but will make its feelings known as part of the fan-led review.

It feels the arrangements for the split of revenue between 2022 and 2025 are not yet set in stone.

Pescatore added: "We live in challenging times and the future remains uncertain.

"Arguably, the [UK] government should have driven a harder bargain to get this over the line. The additional amount is a drop in the ocean compared to the billions secured for the next Premier League cycle."

Les Lawrence
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Re: Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

Post by Les Lawrence » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:29 pm

Don't pay illegally stream like Chester does

firstclaret
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Re: Premier League TV rights: Government allows top flight to roll over existing deal

Post by firstclaret » Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:14 pm

£100m Grealish, £50m Ben White and Chelsea bidding £85m for Lukaku.

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