EPL nets a jackpot TV deal League inks three-year contract worth $4.7 billion with Sky, BT; teams set to rake in more moolah

EPL nets a jackpot TV deal

League inks three-year contract worth $4.7 billion with Sky, BT; teams set to rake in more moolah

London: Pay television broadcaster BSkyB and former state telecom company BT will share live domestic rights to English Premier League from next year in a deal that has jumped in value 70 per cent. They agreed to a three-year contract worth $4.70 billion (Rs 26,000 crore) that cements the EPL’s position as the most valuable domestic football competition in the world. BSkyB, partly owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has broadcast the Premier League for two decades and has used the relationship to build a TV business that has more than 10 million customers, close to half of British households. BSkyB will spend £760 million a year for rights to 116 games. The real surprise was BT’s decision to invest an annual £246 million for 38 matches — ousting US-owned ESPN as the second broadcaster. BT said it planned to launch a new channel to carry the games and would offer them over its network and on other platforms.