The Premier League is on the verge of confirming a record-breaking US television rights deal worth over £1bn that will benefit every club in the division.
That figure would represent a 50 per-cent rise in the value of coverage rights with the deal set to last six years before it is then again up for renewal.
A number of networks from the United States have until November 8 to lodge their bids to the league, with plenty of offers expected.
Across the pond, network NBC are the current holders of rights to Premier League coverage, after they parted ways with $250m (£180m) for the exclusive live rights to all 380 games a season between 2013 and 2016.
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In 2015, Comcast – parent company of NBC, extended that deal for another six years, the first three costing £116m before the latter three rose to £150m.
The 2021/22 season marks the last campaign that deal is eligible for, the agreement in 2015 aiding the Premier League in becoming football’s richest domestic league – pocketing more than £3billion a year in broadcast income alone.
In what is welcome news for Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, the latest offering is likely to push the total overseas rights income for the period of 2022 to 2025 well over the £9bn mark.
That total was £4bn ranging from 2019 to the present date, no small feat when factoring in the impact the coronavirus pandemic had on every aspect of football, Ligue 1’s coverage a prime example.
French football was plunged into crisis after an emergency auction of TV rights saw no suitable bid from a number of huge networks including Amazon, DAZN and Discovery.
America’s current Premier League rights holders NBC Sports paid $1bn (£740m) for coverage from 2016 to 2022 and are expected to receive a portion of the new rights.
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A spokesperson for NBC told the Times : “We certainly want to continue our great relationship [with the Premier League].”
American influence is already strong in terms of the boardrooms of Premier League clubs, with Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Burnley, Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa all represented by the States in terms of ownership or part-ownership.
Ex-Liverpool executive Peter Moore was quick to praise the work NBC had done in raising the profile of the Premier League stateside.
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“From the perspective of a West Coast American getting up at 4am and being able to watch three matches before lunchtime, NBC Sports has done a phenomenal job in promoting the Premier League,” Moore explained.
“They have made it must-watch TV on Saturday morning for just about every American family.
“In the last 10 years everybody in the US understood the game, enjoyed watching it and got themselves a team.”
NBC expect their main competition for the lion’s share of the rights to come from ESPN and CBS, though the Premier League has split the rights into four packages to allow multiple broadcasters, as is the way in the UK with Sky and BT.
Given the cost of domestic coverage rights have plummeted, all twenty of the clubs in the Premier League will welcome the financial boost that comes with US involvement.
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