Silicon Valley has arrived in the UK’s leading pay-TV arena after Amazon, along with BT, has bought one of the two remaining rights packages to livestream 20 English Premier League games for each of the three football seasons starting in August 2019.
The total EPL rights consist of 200 live matches per season split into seven packages. In February 2018, Sky nabbed the four main tranches totalling 128 games a season, for £1.193 billion per annum, while BT agreed to pay £295 million to show 32 games each year.
Negotiations carried on for packages F and G. The latter has now been acquired by BT Sport giving it the rights to rights to broadcast several fixtures from the split weekend, a new initiative that the EPL says will create an opportunity for a mid-season player break. Package F, acquired by Amazon Prime Video, includes the rights, for the first time in the UK, to make available a full round of live Premier League matches.
Amazon’s entry into the battle to take a piece of the crown jewels of UK pay-TV has been rumoured since January 2018 when reports suggested that it had been consulting industry experts about bidding against incumbents Sky and BT.
“We are extremely pleased that Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon have invested in these rights and all view the Premier League and our clubs as vital parts of their live sports offering,” commented EPL executive chairman Richard Scudamore. “We welcome Amazon as an exciting new partner and we know Prime Video will provide an excellent service on which fans can consume the Premier League. The interest in our UK rights is testament to the fantastic competition delivered by our clubs. This outcome will support their continued efforts to put on the best possible football and use their popularity and reach to have a positive impact on the sport and beyond.”
In a separate move, the 20 EPL teams have agreed a new formula for sharing any future increase in international broadcast revenue from season 2019/20 onwards. The League currently distributes all international broadcast revenue equally between the clubs. From season 2019/20, clubs will continue to share current levels of international revenue equally, but any increase will be distributed based on where they finish in the League with the highest-earning club receiving 1.8 times the amount received by the lowest-earning club.
Negotiations carried on for packages F and G. The latter has now been acquired by BT Sport giving it the rights to rights to broadcast several fixtures from the split weekend, a new initiative that the EPL says will create an opportunity for a mid-season player break. Package F, acquired by Amazon Prime Video, includes the rights, for the first time in the UK, to make available a full round of live Premier League matches.
Amazon’s entry into the battle to take a piece of the crown jewels of UK pay-TV has been rumoured since January 2018 when reports suggested that it had been consulting industry experts about bidding against incumbents Sky and BT.
“We are extremely pleased that Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon have invested in these rights and all view the Premier League and our clubs as vital parts of their live sports offering,” commented EPL executive chairman Richard Scudamore. “We welcome Amazon as an exciting new partner and we know Prime Video will provide an excellent service on which fans can consume the Premier League. The interest in our UK rights is testament to the fantastic competition delivered by our clubs. This outcome will support their continued efforts to put on the best possible football and use their popularity and reach to have a positive impact on the sport and beyond.”
In a separate move, the 20 EPL teams have agreed a new formula for sharing any future increase in international broadcast revenue from season 2019/20 onwards. The League currently distributes all international broadcast revenue equally between the clubs. From season 2019/20, clubs will continue to share current levels of international revenue equally, but any increase will be distributed based on where they finish in the League with the highest-earning club receiving 1.8 times the amount received by the lowest-earning club.
