Publications
Partners
Lodnon - The English Premier League announced the sale of domestic TV rights to BSkyB and BT for £3.018bn in a record three-year deal on Wednesday, allowing Sky to extend its coverage of the world's most popular football league.
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore told a news conference that seven packages of live audio and visual rights for broadcast in Britain from the 2013-14 season to 2015-16 have been sold.
Scudamore said the 154 matches were divided between the two companies, with Sky - controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - buying five packages containing 116 matches and BT acquiring two with 38 games.
The deal surpasses the current contract, which is shared between Sky and ESPN and worth £1.25bn, by 70 percent - a sign that English football continues to thrive despite the recession.
"We went to the market at the right time," Scudamore said. "It was a very competitive process, which if you are selling is a very good thing."
In the last auction process, for 2010-11 to 2012-13, Sky bought five of six packages of live domestic TV rights for £1.623bn. Irish-based Setanta bought the remaining package.
