Premier League: launch of the tenders for the 2019-2022 domestic TV rights, 200 games available

The Premier League launched two tenders for the domestic audiovisual rights, for the 2019-2022 cycle, to the English first division, on 08/12/2017.

The two tenders concern the rights for the live broadcasting of 200 games per season (divided into five packages of 32 games, and two packages of 20 games; no single bidder can acquire more than 148 games per season), and the rights to broadcast, free-to-air, highlights of all 380 Premier League games each season.

The main novelty in the first tender is the increase in the number of live games to be broadcast, up from 168 per season in the 2016-2019 cycle (154 in 2013-2016), to 200 in 2019-2022. This increase is due in particular to the introduction of a new semi-regular time slot on Saturday evenings at 19:45 local time, which will include 8 games per season. This follows the creation of a semi-regular time slot on Friday evenings at 20:00 local time, introduced in 2016-2019.

"This creates an attractive offering for broadcasters and fans, while allowing the continued protection of the Saturday 15:00 'closed period' (local time, see…