Sky Wins UK Rights For Live Premier League Matches

Sky has won the UK rights to 126 live Premier League matches a season from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Sky Sports was awarded five packs of live rights. Sky will pay £1,392 million per annum for each of the three years of the new agreement, representing an 83% increase over the cost of the existing contract.

The new deal ensures that Sky Sports will be the only place to follow the biggest matches and stories throughout the Premier League season. Viewers will be able to rely on Sky Sports to bring them three times as many live matches as any other broadcaster, including the best match picks and the most-watched slots in the schedule. By securing the rights to matches on Friday evenings for the first time, Sky Sports will also bring viewers an entirely new way to start the weekend with live Premier League football.

The expanded schedule of live Premier League matches will be a key part of the unrivalled breadth of coverage offered by Sky Sports across seven channels. After 25 rights deals in 2014, and a new agreement for live rights to The Open golf championship from 2017, Sky has secured long-term visibility over its market-leading rights portfolio and future costs.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Group Chief Executive, said: "This is a good result and confirms that Sky is the unrivalled choice for sports fans. We went into the Premier League auction with a clear objective and are pleased to have secured the rights that we wanted.
"Our strong performance across the board gives us financial strength and flexibility. We have a clear plan to absorb the cost of the new Premier League deal while delivering our financial plans."

www.sky.com

(CD)