Chinese football fans were "delivered Boxing Day relief when cash-strapped tech group LeEco made a last-minute payment to ensure it could broadcast English Premier League games, but the future of its football broadcasts still hangs in the balance," according to the FINANCIAL TIMES. The current owner of EPL broadcasting rights in China, Beijing-based Super Sports Media Group, said that LeEco subsidiary LeSports missed a payment of $30M due on Dec. 20, and "threatened to cut off its broadcasts of highly-anticipated Boxing Day matches." A Super Sports spokesperson said that the standoff was temporarily resolved on Monday, when LeSports paid "a small portion" of the amount. The two companies have agreed on a repayment plan which ends at the Lunar New Year on Jan. 28 and "guarantees LeSports broadcasts until next Tuesday." The spokesperson said, "If LeSports cannot stick to its promise to pay within the agreed time, we can cut off their signal at any time. There will be no problems with our English Premier League broadcasts." LeSports has been "eager to promote itself as a force in Chinese Sports" (FT, 12/27).
