The Premier League’s value as a TV property will be put to the test, with NBC Sports’ contract expiring after the 2021-2022 season.
The network wants to renew its deal.
“We certainly want to continue our great relationship with the Premier League,” an NBC spokesman told Front Office Sports.
Negotiations are expected to heat up over the next several months as NBC nears the end of its six-year deal worth $1 billion in May of 2022.
NBC has turned Premier League into a must-watch property for younger, soccer-loving American fans.
ESPN and CBS Sports are also likely to make a play for the English football league’s U.S. rights, said sources.
Despite its Saturdays being loaded with college football, ESPN views the Premier League as a powerful potential attraction for its ESPN+ streaming service, said sources.
The TV talks will come in the wake of the Super League PR fiasco in which a half dozen Premier League clubs plotted with six European allies to break away from the Champions League.
Within 48 hours, the plan crumbled. Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham pulled out.
ESPN commentator Ian Darke wrote that owners of these “Selfish Six” Premier League clubs should sell their stakes.
