Premier League TV rights sold to Sky Sports and BT Sports for £4.5 billion

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Premier League TV rights sold to Sky Sports and BT Sports for £4.5 billion image

Sky Sports and BT Sports have paid a combined £4.464 billion for the next set of Premier League rights.

The league has sold its United Kingdom broadcasting rights for five of the seven packages for the 2019-2022 seasons to Sky Sport and BT Sport, the two current holders of those rights.

"To have achieved this investment with two packages remaining to sell is testament to the excellent football competition delivered by the clubs," Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore said in a statement.

The new deal sees Sky Sports win four of the seven packages available, which equates to 128 games per season. BT won one, which means it will be able to broadcast 32.

Two packages remain unsold at the current time. They include one package which has 20 matches via one midweek fixture list and one Bank Holiday, and a package which includes 20 matches from two midweek fixture lists.

BT and Sky could make a bid on either or both packages, though there are rumours American companies Amazon and Facebook are among those interested in landing those rights.

The total price paid for the five packages comes to £4.464 billion. While that is down for the current deal of £5.19bn for a deal that runs from 2016-2019, the price of the other two packages will drive the total fee paid for the rights higher.

The new deal will allow Sky to have first pick for every weekend match, while also showing the 19:45 Saturday evening matches (UK time) for the first time.

Meanwhile, BT will show the Saturday lunchtime matches in the new deal.

BT have confirmed that they will be paying £295m per season as part of the new deal, which equates to £9.22m per Premier League match.

Marc Allera, chief executive of BT’s Consumer division, said : “The Premier League is undoubtedly the most competitive and exciting domestic league in the world, so we’re delighted that our customers will be able to continue enjoying Saturday games on BT Sport.”

Given the confirmation from BT of what they will pay for the new package, it means Sky’s outlay will be £3.579bn, which works out at £9.3m per game.

Stephen van Rooyen, Sky's UK Chief Executive, said : "We continue to invest in content that our customers value and which complements our strategy to broaden our offer. Not only do we remain the home of Premier League football but also the home of top quality drama, entertainment, comedy and other sports. Our disciplined approach means we continue to have the flexibility to invest in each of these areas as we choose, underlining our position as Europe's largest investor in content."

In total, the rights to 200 games per season are included across the seven packages, up from the 168 in the current deal.

In addition to the remaining two UK packages to be decided, a further windfall will be expected when the overseas rights are sold.

The previous deal brought in around £3bn, but it is expected that figure will rise with the new agreement, which is done on a region by region basis.

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