Barclays Premier League Announces New Broadcast Deal

In the Barclay’s Premier League, the status quo continues for the online broadcasting options for at least one more season. Both Sky Sports and BT Sport won the broadcasting rights, now showing 126 and 42 matches respectively per season starting from the 2017-19 season through 2018-19. Both numbers represent a jump from the 116 and 38 currently shown, however the price was high. Sky Sports and BT paid a combined £5.136 billion (nearly $8 billion USD) — coming to more than £10 million per match — with BT paying £960 million and Sky picking up the rest of the tab.

Neither BT Sport or Sky Sports currently broadcasts internationally, and with NBC’s contract set to expire after the 2015/16 season, the bidding for the Premier League will come to a fever pitch next year. Currently with either BT, Sky or NBC you’ll need a cable package, but here in the United States there is not a way to view the streams from BT or Sky without using a VPN. Even by tricking the system into thinking you’re in the UK, you’ll still need a paid subscription to view the content.

The same goes for both broadcast apps (available on Android and iOS)  as there is no standalone package available yet. A brief exchange with a BT Sport chat helper cleared up any potential for a stream option here.

The tables below, courtesy of Statista, show the Premier League’s rapid growth above their fellow European competitions as well as the amount paid to the clubs from broadcast revenue.

The leagues, from left to right, are the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and Ligue 1. These leagues are often referred to as the “Big Five” as they represent the top competitions in not only Europe, but the world.

Despite being the most popular of the European leagues, the PL’s popularity is still on the rise, as is the price to broadcast it and view it. While this deal does not hurt or help anyone already with a cable deal in the UK, for the rest of us it is merely treading water until the international rights open up again next year.

Sources: Sky Sports and BT Sport
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