The Premier League is inviting tenders for UK broadcasting rights estimated to cost upwards of $5.7 billion for live matches alone in the football league’s first competitive sale since 2018.
Matthew Brooker for Bloomberg Opinion:
It’s one of the world’s most valuable TV sporting-rights auctions, with the existing contract worth about £4.6 billion ($5.7 billion) for live matches alone — ranking behind only the US National Football League on a per-household basis, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The English sale will be a test of the willingness of broadcasters to keep forking out in a challenging economic environment. It may also serve as a lesson on the importance of auction design.
The Premier League looks to have deftly constructed the auction to maximize the chances of a combative bidding process. It has shrunk the number of packages on offer to five from seven, while increasing the total number of matches available for live screening to 270 from 200. The deal will run for four years, starting with the 2025/26 season, extended from three years previously. Under antitrust rules, no single bidder can buy more than four of the packages.
British media reports suggest Sky intends to bid for four match bundles.
That would leave one remaining package, and two further bidders in TNT Sports and DAZN: in other words, the recipe for a competitive auction. Other mooted contenders — including Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, and Amazon.com Inc. (which holds one rights package in the current deal) — aren’t seen as likely to participate. If TNT Sports and DAZN bid as expected, that may be enough: Further entrants would simply be candy for the Premier League.
MacDailyNews Take: While the Premier League would be a huge get, Apple, which now owns the full slate of the Messi-fronted MLS league broadcasts, can afford to look at other live sports beyond football (soccer).
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The MDN take is hilarious. MLS skill level is so far below the majority of leagues around the world. Competitively, MLS is laughing stock. Its only use is for older PL stars to get paid handsomely in the twilight of their careers.
Watching an MLS game vs. a PL game is comparing Major League Baseball to college baseball. Don’t believe me? Do a google search for football club rankings in the world. Let me know how far down the highest MLS team is.
If Apple truly wants to be a WORLDWIDE leader in broadcasting, they will make a bid. They may not win, but get in the game, please.