Super Sports Media Group has been awarded the exclusive live audio visual broadcast rights to all 380 Premier League matches per season for seasons '13-14 through '18-19 in China and Macau. Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore said, "The main reason for agreeing a six year partnership with Super Sports is our recognition of their innovative and successful business model, and that their coverage and reach makes our matches available to fans in all provinces across China and Macau (Premier League).
CHA-CHING: In London, David Bond wrote the league's "cash registers were ringing to the sound of yet more foreign TV cash." Following Monday's announcement of a deal with NBC Sports Group, Scudamore, in Beijing on Tuesday, revealed a six-year extension to its current deal with Chinese TV partner Super Sport. Having "secured a staggering £3B ($4.8B) for the league's domestic TV rights" for three years between '13 and '16, Scudamore "is not seeking to beat the existing overseas rights deals, which is worth another £1B ($1.6B). Scudamore said that although the league has only concluded one-fifth of its new overseas deals, "he is confident of raising more income this time around." Rather than "turning foreign broadcasters off, the unseemly soap opera, which provides a backdrop to football in this country, just seems to add to the attraction." Scudamore said that the league is now "moving into a whole new phase in its global development." In the past the league looked for the best offer, often from new pay-TV operators, but now it is "looking for a greater reach and bigger audiences" (BBC.com, 10/30).
