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The Premier League is under contract with its current media rights partners through the 2024-25 season, but the U.K. soccer behemoth is already planning for its next set of deals.
An auction process for domestic broadcast rights to the EPL is underway as dealmakers are offering five separate packages to split up about 270 games per season for four years, according to the Financial Times.
Currently, Comcast-owned Sky Sports, TNT Sports (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery formerly known as BT Sport), and Amazon Prime Video are paying about $2 billion per year collectively for EPL rights.
The bidding process doesn’t necessarily mean that five different broadcasters will acquire the available packages, which would range from 42 to 65 matches each. However, no single company will be able to buy more than four of the packages. The incumbent partners are expected to bid, as well as sports streamer DAZN.
While the goal remains to increase the current media rights revenue — about $6 billion over three years — the average annual value could fall, some executives told the FT. There is no clear timeline for when winning bids will be announced.
Soccer In Demand
European soccer rights are dominating the news right now, as fellow top leagues in France and Italy are in the process of striking new deals.
Serie A just received bids for domestic rights that fell short of their $1 billion annual average goal. Meanwhile, Ligue 1 may consider playing regular-season matches in the U.S. to entice higher fees for its international deals.
