The auction for the US media rights to the English Premier League has moved into an additional round of bidding. The new deadline is now Friday, October 26, according to MultiChannel News.
The publication says that sources close to the negotiations have confirmed that the bidders for the 2013-2016 Premier League seasons on US media have until October 26 to enter their final bids.
Between MultiChannel News and Sports Business Daily, the publications have reported that they believe interest in bidding have been entered by FOX Soccer-ESPN (as a combined bid), beIN SPORT, NBC Sports, IMG and Discovery Networks. According to Sports Business Daily, NBC Sports entered a smaller bid. IMG, meanwhile, is supposedly interested in bidding so they can resell the rights in sublicense deals, while Discovery Networks would be interested in boosting their Velocity network (or potentially their sister network BBC America).
It may come down to FOX Soccer-ESPN versus beIN SPORT. However, beIN SPORT is being very coy and extremely quiet regarding their interest. And questions remain whether beIN SPORT will have enough bandwidth to show live Serie A, EPL and La Liga, where timing often clashes, on its two channels.
Which network would you prefer to win the rights?
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