Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Comcast’s Sky Group have finalized a deal that will keep English Premier League soccer matches on their channels through the end of the decade.
The deal announced on Monday will also see the BBC offer match highlights on its free-to-air broadcast and satellite channels, the Premier League said in a statement this week.
The broadcast contract starts with the 2025-2026 season and lasts through the end of the decade. WBD will air games from package A on its TNT Sports channel, which covers 52 matches per season, while Sky Sports will air a minimum of 215 games per season from packages B, C, D and E. The Sky packages include more than 140 matches played on the weekends.
BBC Sport will broadcast highlights from all 380 Premier League matches each season on an exclusive basis, with additional rights offered to its digital platforms, the Premier League said. All told, the package will see the broadcasters pay around £6.7 billion (around U.S. $8.46 billion) for the media rights to the soccer games.
“We are delighted to announce new deals with Sky Sports and TNT Sports that will extend our partnership for a further four years and see more Premier League matches than ever before shown live from 2025-26 onwards,” Richard Masters, the CEO of Premier League, said in a statement.
He continued: “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. We are also extremely pleased to extend our partnership with BBC Sport, which will continue to bring weekly highlights of all Premier League matches to the widest possible audience in the UK. Match of the Day has been an institution for generations of football fans in this country and remains incredibly popular with fans of all ages.”
Officials said the contracts will provide “financial certainty for clubs throughout professional football (soccer) until at least 2029.”
“The outcome of this process underlines the strength of the Premier League and 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,” Masters concluded.
The new broadcast package means Amazon will conclude its run as a Premier League telecaster in 2025, after being awarded a limited 5-year contract to some games back in 2019. It is also a blow to sports streamer DAZN, which had hoped to secure some Premier League matches for its direct-to-consumer service, which is growing rapidly throughout Europe.
The broadcast packages were broken down as follows:
Package A
Total matches: 52 (18 second picks; 14 fourth picks; all 20 matches as part of 4th and 5th midweek rounds)
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 12:30 p.m. GMT
Package B
Total matches: 50* (14 first picks; 18 fifth picks; approximately 6-10 rescheduled matches but not at Sunday 2:00 p.m. GMT; all 10 matches as part of 3rd midweek round)
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 5:30 p.m. GMT
Package C
Total matches: 66* (14 second picks; 18 fourth picks; 30-38 rescheduled matches at Sunday 2:00 p.m. GMT)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Sunday 2:00 p.m. GMT
Package D
Total matches: 44* (18 first picks; 13 third picks; up to two Round 37; all 10 Final Round)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches at Sunday 4:30 p.m. GMT
Package E
Total matches: 58 (18 third picks; 14 fifth picks; all 20 matches as part of 1st and 2nd midweek rounds; six additional matches)
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches on Monday/Friday evenings
*-approximate number of matches based upon ranges detailed above.
