That figure is almost double what the Comcast-owned media company, the home of Premier League coverage in the United States since 2013, paid for its current contract back in 2016.
The agreement with NBC covers all 380 Premier League matches in a season and runs to 2028. English soccer’s top-flight has seen strong broadcast ratings in the US, even as others suffered during the pandemic. This season, NBC’s broadcasts are averaging 609,000 viewers, the highest mark to this point since the 2015/16 campaign and up 14 per cent from last year.
NBC faced heavy competition in bidding from CBS and ESPN, who put in a joint offer during the second round of bidding. Fox, from which NBC first gained the rights, did not put in an individual bid during the second round but partnered with other groups.
The new deal goes some way to offsetting the UK£2 billion (US$2.7 billion) Premier League clubs have lost since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the next three years, the Premier League will filter UK£1.6 billion (US$2.15 billion) down the football pyramid, having earlier on 18th November announced a further UK£25 million (US$33.5 million) of Covid impact funding to clubs in the third, fourth and semi-professional fifth tier.
The Premier League has already completed its international broadcast sales processes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but there are deals in the rest of the Americas and Asia Pacific still to be concluded, and further increases in revenue will also see solidarity payments to English Football League (EFL) clubs go up.
“Interest in the Premier League is going from strength to strength and it is great to see the growing global demand to watch our matches and engage with the league,” said Premier League chief executive Richard Masters.
“Our international and domestic broadcast revenues over the next cycle will give stability and certainty to the game as a whole, which is particularly important as football recovers from Covid-19 losses.
“We are proud to provide more investment into our football pyramid than any other football league in the world.”
