TNT Sports could LOSE prime Premier League TV slot with new streaming service tipped to challenge for rights
THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S broadcasting rights could be in for a major shake-up as the company prepares to sell its domestic TV rights for the first time in six years.
And one player keen to enter the market is British streaming company DAZN, who have so far made their name in this country largely for their boxing coverage.
TNT Sports could lose their Saturday 12:30pm slot to DAZNRex
The Times report the company are keen to make a splash in the British football market and the latest auction put forward by The Premier League is the perfect opportunity to do so.
The Premier League have planned to make their offering more attractive to UK broadcasters by upping the number of games available for broadcast from 200 to 270.
There will be five packages worth of games sold, which in theory could go to five separate broadcasters.
But The Times claim that Sky Sports and TNT Sports are set to remain the major players in the market, although DAZN could provide a serious challenge to TNT.
DAZN are particularly keen on the Saturday 12:45pm slot and could enter a bidding war with TNT to take the slot from their rival.
The report also outlines that there is a small chance that YouTube may enter the race for one of the slots, although Apple have ruled themselves out of the race.
The value of the domestic rights package is not expected to rise from the current estimated £1.71billion which was paid in 2018.
That number had flatlined from the record amount of money paid for domestic rights in 2015 – which is now seen as the peak of The Premier League’s TV value.
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The report also details that it is unlikely that Amazon will get into a bidding war to keep its current set of fixtures which focus around the league’s festive fixtures.
It’s reported that Amazon paid “peanuts” for their current rights to show two game weeks worth of fixtures.
While the price for domestic TV rights is expected to remain static – Premier League chiefs are not expected to sweat on the issue given the vast majority of profit is driven by the league’s overseas packages.
