THE English Premier League announced on Monday it had agreed a record £6.7 billion ($8.45 billion) domestic television rights deal for a four-year period starting from the 2025/26 season.
The current deal is reported to be worth around £5 billion over a three-year cycle and covers 200 matches per season.
The English top flight hailed the agreements shared between different broadcasters as the “largest sports media rights deals ever concluded in the UK”.
Sky Sports and TNT Sports have retained their rights to show live matches, with Amazon, currently showing 20 matches per season, not part of the next cycle.
Sky will screen a minimum of 215 live matches per season while TNT will broadcast 52. BBC Sport and its Match of the Day highlights programme is part of the new deal.
A Saturday afternoon blackout, designed to protect attendances in the lower leagues, will remain but for the first time all matches outside of those scheduled for 3:00 pm on Saturday will be screened live.
Despite the eye-catching headline figure, the Premier League is selling significantly more games over a longer period.
“The outcome of this process underlines the strength of the Premier League,” said the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters.
“It is testament to our clubs, players and managers who continue to deliver the world’s most competitive football in full stadiums, and to supporters, who create an unrivalled atmosphere every week.”
He added: “As longstanding and valued partners, Sky Sports and TNT Sports are renowned for consistently delivering world-class coverage and programming.
“We have enjoyed record audiences and attendances in recent seasons, and we know that their continued innovation will drive more people to watch and follow the Premier League.”
The Premier League said the new deal would provide financial certainty for clubs throughout professional football until at least 2029.
It is the first Premier League tender process since 2016 as the current deal was rolled over in 2021 for an extra three years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Premier League clubs already enjoy a huge financial advantage over their European competitors due to far more lucrative domestic and international TV rights deals.