⚽️ New Premier League TV Deal Means More Broadcast Matches

Good morning. Look at us! We made it through another international break! Tomorrow, we will preview a full slate of Premier League matches. That’s going to be a good time.

The Prem’s new television deal proves that the league thinks more of a good thing is, well, a good thing. Also, we’ll put a bow on this international break by once again going around the world to see which Premier League stars were banging in the goals. Let’s go.

In the email today:

The Premier League has long had a tricky relationship with broadcasting its matches television. This reticence stems from a time when fans would regularly eschew buying a ticket to a match if they knew they could watch it at home. This dynamic still exists, but the rights fees for Premier League telecasts are so high now that losing some ticket revenue is just going to be part of the deal.

• The Premier League plans to increase the number of live matches available on UK TV, with 270 matches to be broadcast per season starting from 2025.

• This expansion is part of a new domestic TV rights tender process which will boost revenues for the league.

• Broadcasters will bid on five packages, each running for four seasons, increasing the total live matches from the previous broadcast limit of 200.

• The biggest tweak will see all fixtures played at 2 p.m. (UK time) on Sundays available to broadcast, though the traditional Saturday 3 p.m. blackout will be preserved.

• The current value of the Premier League's domestic TV rights in the UK is estimated at £5 billion, with hopes for revenue growth in the new contract due to the expanded number of matches.

Our take: This news does not affect the United States viewers — yet. NBC has U.S. Premier League broadcast rights though 2027-2028. The $2 billion NBC spent on those rights in 2021 looks like a steal now. Call us pessimistic, but our worry is once 2028-2029 comes around, we might be looking at jacked out streaming subscription rates at best and pay-per-view at worst.

2) 🌎️ Premier Leaguers Continue to Distinguish Themselves on the World Stage

We would be remiss if we didn’t give this international break a proper send off. Good riddance! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out! Oh, and here are some more goal scorers.

• Uruguay 2, Brazil 0 (CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying): Darwin Nunez (Liverpool) again as Uruguay pulled off the upset over mighty Brazil.

• England 3, Italy 1 (UEFA European Championship Qualifying): Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) bagged a goal between two by some guy named Kane who used to play for Tottenham Hotspur.

• Ukraine 3, Malta 1 (UEFA European Championship Qualifying): Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea) was among the scorers for Ukraine, who kept Malta winless in qualifying thus far.

• Denmark 2, San Marino 1 (UEFA European Championship Qualifying): Rashford’s teammate Rasmus Hojlund netted Denmark’s opener.

• South Korea 6, Vietnam 0 (International Friendly): Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) and Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) were among the five scorers for South Korea.

Our take: Well that was fun. Let’s agree not to do this again until (checks calendar)…less than a month from now. For the love of God.

3) ❌ Tweet of the Day: Something for Everyone

A Merseyside Derby, a North London Derby, Manchester City/Brighton & Hove Albion — this is a pretty solid slate on the comeback from the break.

4) 🗳️ How Much Would You Pay to Watch a Premier League Match on a One Off Basis?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links Roundup:

• ⚖️ Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali will be permitted to play this weekend despite being the subject of a gambling probe.

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kalvin Phillips seems to be all but gone from Manchester City.

• 🕖️ Everton’s troubled 777 Partners deal continues to provide more questions than answers.

• 🇳🇴 Manchester City star Erling Haaland is off last year’s goal-scoring pace, but it’s not for lack of chances.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading!