Washington, November 19 (BNA) NBC has achieved one of its main goals over the past year, as it retained the rights of the United States to broadcast the English Premier League for another six years.
The Premier League announced the deal on Thursday. NBC will pay more than $2.7 billion to continue showcasing the world’s richest soccer competition, according to the Associated Press.
NBC won the rights to the Premier League in October 2012, for $250 million over three years. When the new deal begins next season, it will average $450 million per season.
The previous six deals, which began in 2016, were worth $1.1 billion, averaging $183.3 million per season.
Interest in the Premier League has grown significantly since NBC first acquired the rights to Fox for the 2013-14 season. Game viewers averaged 609,000 this season, the highest during this point since 2015-16 and up 14% from last year.
The Premier League averaged 220,000 matches during the 2012-13 season on Fox and ESPN, which broadcast under a Fox sub-license.
The partnership has paid off in other ways. NBC did promotions during the first year in which Jason Sudeikis appeared as a college football coach named Ted Lasso abroad to coach Tottenham. This evolved into a hugely popular sitcom on Apple TV+ that took home seven Emmy Awards this year.
NBC faced stiff bidding competition from CBS and ESPN, who bid jointly during the second round of bidding. Fox, which holds the rights to the 2022 and 2026 soccer World Cups, did not offer a solo show during the second round, but has partnered with other groups.
International rights provided a significant boost to Premier League revenue after British rights were extended for another three years with Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime Video for £5 billion (about $7 billion). Because of the pandemic, deals have been reached on the basis of current terms.
The new NBC deal covers the 2022-23 season – which the World Cup finals will cut short in November and December – and runs until 2027-28. It will cover 380 matches each season.
The matches will continue to air on NBC and Peacock as well as USA Network, which will top NBCSN’s schedule when the channel closes at the end of the year.
The Premier League also spanned another six years in Australia with Optus Sports.
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