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Premier League agrees ‘biggest ever’ overseas TV rights deal in China

The Premier League has agreed a new $700m (£560m) TV rights deal in China with video streaming service PPTV, according to reports.

The rumoured three-year contract would be the league’s biggest-ever overseas broadcasting agreement working out at $233m per season, with the BBC claiming that a source at PPTV has confirmed that a deal is in place.

If the figure is correct it would mark a twelve-fold increase on the Premier League’s current Chinese agreement with Super Sport Media Group, and underlines the English game’s meteoric rise in China.

Tours of major Chinese cities are now a routine part of most top club’s pre-season schedules, and the increased money flowing through the game in the country has seen some of the biggest European stars turn out for Chinese Super League clubs.

Currently, the league’s largest overseas TV deal is its $1bn US broadcasting deal with NBC which it signed in August 2015, averaging $167m per year over six seasons.

However, this is still dwarfed by the £5.14bn, three-year domestic deal agreed with Sky and BT Sport, which began this season.

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