Premier League: termination of TV rights contract in China with PPTV following non-payment

"The Premier League confirms that it has today terminated its agreements for Premier League coverage in China with its licensee in that territory. The Premier League will not be commenting further on the matter at this stage," announced the English football league on 03/09/2020.

PPTV (Suning Group), China's Internet and mobile streaming platform, acquired the broadcasting rights to the Premier League for China for the 2019-2022 cycle on 17/11/2016. The estimated value of the acquisition was $700m (€591m) for the three years of the contract, the biggest contract ever signed by the Premier League for foreign television.

This termination is linked to the non-payment of a deadline initially scheduled for March 2020 according to British media. PPTV had wanted to renegotiate the value of the rights downwards (like other broadcasters) due to the interruption of the English top division as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic (between March and June 2020), while at the same time asking to extend the contract for a further three seasons, according to British media.

According to specialised media…