Premier League broadcasting rights from 2025.

Interesting article from RXTV about the upcoming bidding process for the Premier League broadcasting rights starting in August 2025. It appears the next cycle may be for 4 years and not the usual 3 like now. Also it seems the smaller packages like Amazon in the UK have now may be scrapped in favour of fewer packages that will have more games. The total number of games on TV per season will increase from the current 200.

It's expected up to 4 broadcasters may bid. One interesting outcome is that Sky may end up in less of a dominant position than it is now, as if more than 2 broadcasters win rights you could see a more even split of games among the winners. I don't think the fans would like this outcome as an even split among, say, 3 different broadcasters might mean needing to have 3 different subs to watch games.

https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/all-change-for-premier-league-tv-coverage/

Also discussed in this Financial Times piece:

https://www.ft.com/content/ec1f4e0a-a11e-4eab-840d-dadcbb1d2bab

Daily Mail article saying that DAZN will enter the bidding war with Amazon ending it's interest.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12579421/IN-MONEY-4billion-year-target-DAZN-TV-fight.html

Nothing mentioned in any of the articles about how this will affect the RoI and what Premier Sports will do.

icdg

Nor will there be in any UK press article.

And right now this is all just speculation and needs to be treated as such. Don’t take a thing as being gospel until the RFT issues.

icdg

Here we go again!

https://www.premierleague.com/news/3741409

Main points:

• Five packages each linked to one of the traditional time slots: Sunday 2pm, Sunday 4:30pm, Saturday 12:30pm, Saturday 5:30pm and MNF/FNF.
• 3pm ban remains, but any matches shifted to Sunday for European football reasons will be shown live.
• 5 entire midweek rounds plus all matches on the final day to be shown live.
• no single buyer allowed acquire any more than 4 packages.

This is the UK tender. The Irish media rights is supposedly separate. Apart from the surprise Premier Sports win of Amazon’s BH/midweek package last time around (way back in 2018, because the rights were extend because of Covid) the same bidders have always won the same rights in Ireland as UK. The Irish rights normally also include an additional package of 32 3pm Saturday games plus one 4:30pm Sunday game.

Manc-Red_

I’d say it’ll be similar setup in a winning sense to now in the UK and eventually down the line for Ireland.

Those 2pm games on a Sunday that can’t be played on a Saturday, that will be now live is a welcome addition though, lots were/are viewing those illegally via IPTV.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121255847#Comment_121255847

Interesting. One broadcaster can potentially have 4 out of the 5 packages. Are Sky's pockets deep enough yet again to put in a whopper of a bid to see off what will probably be stronger opposition this time?

icdg

A few takeaways:

I think the reduction in number of packages from seven to five will militate against a third player being involved. That in turn will make it difficult to see a new entrant (ie Dazn) unless they oust TNT. I think Amazon probably now will pull out, the package that was effectively tailor made for them is gone.

Most likely, Sky will target retaining Super Sunday, which they’ve had since the PL was set up, I’d suggest they’ll probably also want to keep the evening games, though that’ll be less priority, and there was a period where the Saturday evening and MNF slots went to Setanta and briefly ESPN. I think TNT will target keeping Saturday 12:30pm, although I wouldn’t rule out them moving to Saturday 5:30pm which BT had for a period and ESPN/Setanta before that.

Every PL auction since 2007 has had some sort of a twist, so there may well be a surprise here. What Dazn do now will be interesting, they’re the most likely new entrant, if they do table a successful bid I’d suggest it’ll probably be for one of the Saturday packages and possibly at the expense of TNT. I can’t really see anyone else entering, Amazon are retreating a bit from live sports, Viaplay are on the way out the door and won’t be picking up anything new, ESPN won’t be back in the near future and Premier/Setanta will probably leave it a while before trying the UK again, if they ever do.

If I were to lay a bet, I would conservatively say TNT to get one of the Saturday packages, Sky the rest and Amazon to leave with nothing.

highpressisbest

That’s a very comprehensive analysis. Premier to keep the Irish Saturday 3pm rights probably? Kind of difficult to see Sky coming back in for them.

icdg

Yes, I don’t see them going anywhere, they really were of no benefit to Sky. The only other player I’d see possibly moving in on them might be VMTV.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257651#Comment_121257651

Based on that would you think a "bidding war" is likely or not?

I'd say it's not, with the two main broadcasters settling on keeping what they already have.

Plus there is the elephant in the room of illegal streaming which the bidders will be using as leverage.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257651#Comment_121257651

Best if just two got it IMO. Any more than that and it would be a nightmare in term of fans having to fork out for multiple subs.

Manc-Red_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121261284#Comment_121261284

I'd say it'll be two main and one via stream in the UK - Premier for Ireland

Interesting article from the Daily Mirror sounding a note of caution over the idea that the PL is hoping that in going from 200 to 270 live tv games a season will mean a corresponding bump in revenue earned. Also thinks that the lack of a package that Amazon currently has will deter prospective new entrants who want to test the market first before committing fully to a bigger bid later on.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-broadcast-tv-rights-31231068

icdg

Daily Mail reporting that, as with the last time, the BBC are the only bidders for the highlights package.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121335628#Comment_121335628

ITV, Ch 4 and Ch 5 blaming falling viewing figures and a “difficult” advertising market as reasons not to bid.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12716169/BBC-set-retain-rights-Match-Day-four-years-2025-ITV-rivals-decide-not-bid-falling-viewing-figures-difficult-advertising-market.html

mackersdublin

The Telegraph reporting Amazon are stil interested

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/11/09/amazon-premier-league-tv-rights-bid-sky-tnt-dominance/

channelsurfer2

Tender closes tomorrow - 30th. Sometimes if there is a dramatic difference in the tenders the PL will announce the winners of certain packages there and then. They will then say bids for others have gone to another round to be announced at a later date. I wonder will this happen tomorrow?

icdg

Sky have won four packages, TNT the final package, Amazon have lost out.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121454220#Comment_121454220

Premier League press release. Sky have packages B, C, D and E. TNT have package A. Not surprisingly the BBC have the highlights.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/3807882

AJB39

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121454245#Comment_121454245

I’m surprised. It means Amazon or indeed any other streaming-only platform are frozen out of Premier League football in the UK and presumably Ireland for the remainder of this decade after the deal comes into force.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121454443#Comment_121454443

Looks like it alright if the RoI follows the UK as it has done up to now and Sky & TNT get the rights. The only thing to be decided then is the Saturday 3pm games package currently held by Premier Sports.

icdg

Amazon being out isn’t really a surprise, the reduction in the number of packages really did them in, left no room for the FAPL to spread things among more than two providers. Probably safe to assume Sky and TNT will be awarded mirror rights. I suppose the biggest surprise of this tender is that there actually isn’t a surprise at all, no twist involving a new entrant.

Agent Coulson

£6.7B is crazy money really so that works out about £6m per live game.

Are Sky and TNT really making that kind of money from subscribers?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121454600#Comment_121454600

The per game amount is down somewhat on the current deal isn't it? For 2022 to 2025 (3 seasons), £5.1 billion for 600 games was paid by the TV companies. Works out at 8.5 million a game. This deal is over 4 seasons for 270 games a season (total 1080), which gives the 6.2 million a game amount.

Manc-Red_

If they even try to price-hike the already overpriced subscriptions they currently have - they’ll be playing directly into IPTV’s hands

Butson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121456293#Comment_121456293

Anecdotally all we hear about is IPTV and "dogy boxes".

Maybe its over stated? Surely if its as widespread as it seems, Sky have to be taking a hammering?

icdg

It is overstated.

Those who resort to piracy are almost evangelical about it and usually make the bold claim that everybody is using illegal means.

The reality is that if everybody really were using them, then nobody would be paying Sky, and Sky would be out of business.

Both Sky and the pirates rely on the same thing, ironically enough. That piracy will remain a minority sport, and enough people will continue to pay the legal rights holders enough to keep them making a profit. The pirates like their business, but if everyone went pirate, they’d have no content, because they need the legitimate operators to actually go to the grounds, film the games, and produce and broadcast the content. You know, all the things the pirates don’t have to do because they are stealing someone else’s work.

Red Silurian

Sky's main sport income is the hospitality sector, if every household went the dodgy-box route they wouldn't even notice.

We hear at the start of the premier league season every year that there's a crack-down on these boxes, I think the timing is not coincidental

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457009#Comment_121457009

I think simultaneous KOs exacerbates the problem somewhat, especially the Sunday 2PMs. If one didn't want to watch the game Sky was showing, what would one do? No longer a problem obviously from 2025 when Sky will show all these particular games. Hopefully Now TV in the RoI will address this issue too, as they don't currently mirror Sky Sports red button output.

Manc-Red_

The majority of people I know that have dodgy boxes are on either Sky or Virgin for basic and say Netflix and use this hardware for Sports purposes only.

Butson

Would be interesting to see if Sky increase the prices on their packages given they are now showing 100 extra games per year. Somebody mentioned above the cost per game is down on the rights, but the cost to them overall will increase. Huge money goes behind each broadcast with tech teams on the ground, cameras, sound, pundits and the marketing of games.

It's a serious outlay.

I would think Now TV has been a success.

Doodah7

I have NOW and alternatives, I had no choice on Sunday when I wanted to watch my team play. They were only available to view via alternative sources so that is what I did. It is neither my problem/fault that Sky chose not to broadcast the game. I simply found a station that was showing it.

Doodah7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458247#Comment_121458247

There is no extra outlay in terms of cameras, pundits etc. EVERY Premier League game is broadcast live on the PL's own world feed. As an example, the Liverpool game had Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves as pundits in the studio and was broadcast in Australia/South Africa etc.

icdg

The UK broadcasters produce the pictures for the world feed - PLP add the studio content, commentators, analysis etc but do not produce the pictures.

Sky and TNT produce the games they show themselves. Im not sure how they divvy up the non-TV games (and I’m also pretty certain the BBC are involved in producing some of those) but there may well be an increased cost for Sky if they are showing a greater percentage of the games than they did before.

Fr Tod Umptious

I think the EPL staved off any sort of rights value meltdown by structuring the packages and duration the way they did.

They can come out with a big headline figure of it being the most valuable rights deal ever and leave it up to the individual to calculate the actual value per game, which of course is lower this time than last.

The duration and number of packages also meant that only the established broadcasters were likely to bid, it was too risky for a DAZN or other online provider.

I wonder if the EPL are buying time before going it alone?

Butson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458746#Comment_121458746

Possibility of planning to go it alone in the future.

Also could simply be a case of if it's not broken, don't fix it. Richest league in the world by a country mile and whether consumers like it or not, Sky are a major part of that.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458888#Comment_121458888

I think it's very much of the not broken don't fix.

Sky having four of five and TNT the other is about as safe a pair of hands as you could get.

Any word on the Republic of Ireland rights at all? I know we generally follow the UK, bar the Saturday 3pm ko’s. Premier for these again I’d guess?

Manc-Red_

sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027854#Comment_122027854

Can’t see it going any other way imho, I know Sky Sports had 3pms for a few seasons but that apparently caused murder in the UK when Sports subscribers found out we had them. Sports Extra I’m sure will remain too via Sky.

icdg

The 3pms made no impact, subscriber wise on Sky the last time around, those who want the FAPL would have subscribed to Sky anyway for their other coverage irrespective of them. Not sure Sky having the rights had any impact other than possibly hastening the sale of the original Setanta Ireland operation to eir (and that would be more to do with Setanta losing the rights than Sky gaining then). So I don’t see Sky going for them again (ever) and think yes they will remain with Premier, which is their natural home really.

Whether there is still a Sports Extra pack after 2025 may have more to do with TNT/WBD and whether they want to retail direct in ROI after that. The long term aim apparently is still to combine TNT and Eurosport but apart from cross promotions they’ve been awfully quiet on that front of late.

chrisd2019

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121261191#Comment_121261191

Illegal streaming is linked to cost and willingness of potential subscribers to pay increased pricing to fund such a bidding war.

Rain from the West

The PL UK radio rights for the next cycle (2025-29) have been awarded. BBC gets 4 packages and Talksport 2.

Details:

https://www.premierleague.com/news/4165261

WildCardDoW

This is all interesting reading.

Have to imagine having such a large majority of matches means that Sky wll up their Sports Package prices.

Regarding to "dodgy" IPTV I will say I have more friends in their 30s using that then using the legitimate services. Some have a dodgy setup and either have Now TV or Sky but they're an even smaller minority (and typically ones that got burned too frequently by dodgy not working, winding up etc.).

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122809141#Comment_122809141

I know some people who had the dodgy services last year and gave them up because the live feed was almost never working.