EPL Rights More Valuable Abroad?

The Premier League remains immensely popular in the U.K., but its global clout is ascendant: The league’s international media rights now total more than its domestic haul.

The league is set to rake in $7.2 billion in foreign TV rights from 2022-2025, while its domestic rights total $6.9 billion in that period.

• International rights grew 30% from the previous three-year cycle.
• U.S. rights accounted for much of the increase, with Comcast re-upping its contract on a six-year deal reportedly worth over $2.7 billion. Its previous six-year pact cost $1.1 billion. 
• In May 2021, the Premier League renewed its existing domestic rights deals with Amazon, BT, and Sky, forgoing a traditional auction while the league was still recovering from the pandemic.

The bump in international rights will help boost payments delivered to teams. The 2022-2023 season champions will see their bonus rise to $238 million from $207 million, and the bottom-placing team will pocket $143.4 million, up from $131.2 million.

Enter DAZN

DAZN hoped to get in on the previous round of negotiations but was unable to participate without an open auction. 

Instead, the streaming service appears close to acquiring BT Sport for $800 million. The company spent $1.7 billion on sports rights in 2019.