LONDON: The English Premier League and NBCUniversal, via the NBC Sports Group, Thursday announced a new six-year broadcast deal in the United States.
The agreement, which will see NBC Sports remain the Premier League’s official broadcast partner in the US until 2028, will cover all 380 matches every season. The deal also includes the exclusive rights for Spanish language coverage.
While financial terms were not disclosed in the official release, the US media rights had been expected to cost somewhere over $300 million a year (in the $2 billion ball park, which would in and of itself been a 100% rise over the current rights value). Reports are that the deal was signed for roughly $433 million per year; or a monster $2.6 billion in total.
As for why the price went for so so high a price, it is all about over the top (OTT) streaming. When the Premier League signed a six-year rights extension with NBC Sports in September 2015, the media world was different. At that time, OTT services were largely limited to on-demand taped programming. They were complementary to cable and satellite subscriptions. Not so today. The shift away from linear TV well and truly on.
For the record, NBC’s current six-year exclusive rights package expires at the end of this current Premier League campaign.
The rights attracted no shortage of suitors for what was the most competitive bidding war ever for US rights to the Premier League. While the main fight was between Comcast-owned NBC and The Walt Disney Company’s sports arm ESPN, WarnerMedia, Amazon, FOX, and ViacomCBS were also “in the game”. There were also reports that ESPN and CBS Sports were interested in a combined deal to thwart NBC Sports.
NBC Sports became the home of Premier League coverage in the US in 2013.
Since then, the broadcaster has worked with the League, growing its profile and fanbase significantly. NBC platforms – including NBC, USA Network, NBCSN, NBC Sports digital and Peacock – reach every home in the country with a television or the internet, and NBC Sports’ Premier League Mornings programming has become well-established viewing for American fans.
The US television rights deal will significantly boost the Premier League’s total earnings from overseas rights, which is now expected to surpass their three-year £4.8 billion domestic rights deal, which runs from 2022-25.
The Premier League had announced in May a renewed £4.8bn TV rights deal with its existing partners Sky, BT and Amazon, avoiding an auction that could have led to hundreds of millions being wiped off the value of the next deal.
Richard Masters, Premier League chief executive, said: “We are delighted to announce our new US broadcast deal with NBC Sports, who have been brilliant partners for the Premier League over the last nine seasons. NBC Sports has significantly strengthened the popularity of the League in the United States in that time through its fantastic coverage and promotion.
“NBC Sports’ Premier League Mornings programming is now a real institution among supporters in America, with fans getting up early to come together and cheer on their favourite club, week in, week out.
“It’s an exciting time for football in the US and we look forward to continuing to work with NBC Sports to bring our competition to even more fans over the next six years.”
Pete Bevacqua, NBC Sports chairman, added: “We are excited to come to this long-term extension with the Premier League. Our Premier League team, led by Jon Miller, has been incredibly dedicated to growing the Premier League in the United States over the last nine years.
“This new agreement is also a testament to the hard work of production, marketing and other areas of our company, as well as the tremendous partnership that has been established with the leadership and club owners of the Premier League.”
Last month, the Premier League and NBC Sports took the Premier League Mornings Live fan festival to Los Angeles. The two-day event gave supporters an opportunity to celebrate their love of the Premier League and watch the NBC studio team broadcast the weekend’s matches live from the LA Memorial Coliseum.
Tens of thousands of fans in the US have attended Premier League Mornings Live events to date and they are part of the League’s ongoing commitment to bring unique experiences to supporters around the globe.
EMEA sales process complete
The Premier League has already completed its international broadcast sales processes in Europe, Middle East and Africa (see full list here…) and will now begin that process in the rest of the Americas and Asia Pacific (India included, but more on that later).
The announcement of the new US broadcast deal follows the Exclusion Order agreement with UK Government relating to the three-year renewal of the Premier League’s UK broadcast deal.
Support for all the English game
These deals will enable the League to invest £1.6bn of broadcast revenue outside of the League to lower-league and non-league clubs, the grassroots game and communities; continuing the Premier League’s support for all levels of the English game.
It was announced earlier Thursday that an extra £20m will be paid to EFL League One and League Two clubs this season. A new package of £5m extra will support clubs in the top-three National League divisions until 2025.
Masters added: “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.”
