Balkans: Telekom Srbija acquires Premier League TV rights €100m/year (10x the current contract)

Serbian state-owned telecommunications operator Telekom Srbija has acquired the rights to broadcast the Premier League in the Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) for its pay-TV subsidiary Arena Sport over the 2022-2028 cycle, on 21/07/2021.

The rights were acquired for €600m, or €100m per year, according to Serbian media, which is 10 times more than the current contract held by the pay-TV group SportKlub, which acquired them from the agency IMG for €10m per year over the 2019-2022 cycle.

This amount is of concern to the specialised press, who cite political motives for such an amount. Netherlands-based United Group, the parent company of SportKlub, "previously disclosed evidence of Telekom Srbija trying to expel United Group's operations from Serbia, principally by entering into a questionable agreement with Telenor Serbia (a private telecoms operator and subsidiary of the Norwegian group of the same name)," said Broadband TV News.

Premier League: broadcasting rights sold for the post-2022 period