Premier League Could Seek $2B for U.S. Media Rights

The English Premier League is expected to seek bids for its U.S. media rights in a deal that could reach a total value of at least $2 billion, according to Bloomberg. 

Comcast’s NBC Sports has held the rights to the EPL since 2013 and pays $150 million per year. That deal expires at the end of the 2021-2022 season. 

“We certainly want to continue our great relationship with the Premier League,” an NBC spokesperson told Front Office Sports in April. 

The EPL believes it can double or triple the value of its rights by allowing other networks to bid. NBC will be competing with the likes of Amazon, ESPN, WarnerMedia, and ViacomCBS. 

For the past few months, there’s been an arms race to secure rights to international soccer. 

• In July, the EPL inked a streaming rights agreement in China with iQiyi Sports that runs through the 2024-2025 season. 
• Disney’s ESPN agreed to a rights deal in May with Spain’s La Liga valued at $175 million per season, spanning eight years. 
• Amazon landed U.S. rights to France’s Ligue 1 in June for $302.6 million per year for eight matches from each round of the league.

The EPL is increasing its asking price for rights after its clubs lost $1.4 billion despite generating $6.3 billion in revenue for the 2019-20 season — the biggest collective loss in league history.