Premier League rights sold in Canada and the Caribbean

30 October 2012 | Posted in Broadcast, Soccer, North America, Caribbean | By Michael Long

Following the sale of Barclays Premier League rights to NBC Sports Group in the US, further broadcast contracts have been secured with networks in Canada and the Caribbean.

In Canada, cable sports channel Sportsnet will continue its long-standing commitment to show the world’s most watched soccer league for another three years. The network has broadcast action from England’s top tier since launching in 1998 and has since added top soccer properties such as the Uefa Europa League, Uefa Champions League and Fifa World Cup qualifiers to its programming line-up.

Meanwhile, the multimedia rights – TV, online and mobile - will be shared equally with TSN, the Canadian home of North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Canadian rightsholder for the 2016 European Championships.

A key change from the exisiting deal, which runs until the end of this season, is that each channel will air 190 games each year until the end of the 2015/16 season, with exact coverage depending on match-ups and available timeslots. Under the current arrangement, TSN sub-licenses 50 games per year from Sportsnet.

Sportsnet will show games across its family of channels, including Sportsnet, Sportsnet World, Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet World Plus. TSN will air games on TSN, TSN2, RDS and RDS2.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "We are extremely pleased that Sportsnet and TSN have invested in our live rights in Canada. Both Sportsnet and TSN have been broadcasting Barclays Premier League football for the last three seasons.”

"Moving forward we look forward to working with both organisations as they continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our Canadian fans,” added Scudamore.

• NBC acquires the Premier League’s US rights
• Singtel secures Premier League rights

In the Caribbean, International Media Content Ltd (IMC), parent company of SportsMax Limited, has extended its agreement, acquiring the live rights to all 380 Premier League matches per season from 2013 to 2016.

Scudamore said of the deal: "We are extremely pleased that IMC has invested in our live broadcast rights in the Caribbean. IMC, via SportsMax, is currently our live broadcast rights partner and has provided excellent coverage of the Barclays Premier League for the past ten years.”

"We look forward to further developing our working relationship with SportsMax as they continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our Caribbean fans."

Oliver McIntosh, president and chief executive SportsMax Limited, added: "Our coverage has attracted many new fans of the BPL across the Caribbean as SportsMax has enhanced coverage with its SportsMax Zone programme and media partnerships promoting the BPL. We look forward to three more excellent years."

Financial terms of the deals were not released.

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