The English Premier League and International Pay-TV operator BeIN Sports are poised to renew their partnership for the 2025-28 period.
The Qatar-based broadcasting giant are in pole position to land another rights deal with the Premier League with the current agreement said to be expiring in 2025 at the end of the 2025-26 season. The top Premier League teams have also given their go-ahead to extend with BeIN Sports in a recently concluded shareholders meeting. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before the agreement can be made official.
BeIN sports currently cover the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) and are allowed to telecast all of the Premier League’s 380 matches in both English and Arabic. Key markets for them include Egypt (Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah), Algeria (Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez), and Morocco (Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech).
It is understood that BeIN’s current deal with the English top flight is worth around £550 million. An announcement regarding the new agreement is expected soon.
For both parties, it is a win-win situation as BeIN has been the broadcast partner for the Premier League since 2013 in the MENA countries excluding Saudi Arabia. With the growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Saudi has banned BeIN sports. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also owns Newcastle United and so it could be a blow for the PIF if the Premier League is not telecasted in the region as it could dent their plans of building a solid fanbase for Newcastle. As of now, BeIN and PIF are unwilling to reach a compromise and so the ban could stand.
The Premier League has also admitted its dissatisfaction over Saudi’s ban on coverage in the region but have resigned to the fact that it is beyond their power.
In other news, Premier League could ditch Sky Sports for BT Sport for in-house coverage. Currently, Sky hold the TV rights for the Premier League in the UK and were expected to strike a fresh agreement with Premier League for a renewal.
Head back to Sporticos for more Sports Stream News.
