Next U.S. TV Contract for Premiership: "$20 Million"

Oliver Tse, the creator of SoccerTV.com, wrote a revealing response to the Paul Gardner article I commented on the other day.

In Tse’s article, he mentions many of the same thoughts I had (in that it’s unfair to evaluate the Premiership based on just the matches that Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts). But what Tse does reveal is this:

“The next US TV contract for the EPL will cost $20 million each year, which is about 100 times compared to what the rights fee were for the 1994-1995 season.”

If that number is close to being real, it gives you — the reader — a good idea why Fox Soccer Channel decided to sublicense some of the Premiership matches to Setanta Sports this past summer. With rights fees like that, it only makes sense for Fox and Setanta to partner.

While the Premiership is undoubtedly the most expensive league to own the TV rights for, it’s no wonder that Fox let the Bundesliga and Lique Une go to GolTV and Setanta respectively.