China: PP Sports (Suning), Tencent and IQiyi Sports acquire TV rights for the 2021-22 European Cups

Chinese broadcaster PP Sports (PPTV) has acquired the the TV rights to the Champions League and Europa League for China for the 2021-22 season, announced the Chinese pay-TV group and subsidiary of the Chinese multinational Suning on 11/08/2021. These rights also included those of the European Supercup won by Chelsea FC (Premier League) against Villarreal CF (LaLiga Santander) (1-1, 6-5 on penalties) on the same day. 

"This is the fourth consecutive season of broadcasting the European Cups for PP Sports, since 2018-19. According to our audience statistics, 56.19 million viewers watched the 2020-21 Champions League via PP Sports, with an average of 449,000 viewers per match, which represents an increase of 4% over the previous year," said the Chinese broadcaster.

According to specialised media, the same TV rights have also been awarded, for the 2021-22 season, to Chinese internet services group Tencent and to IQiyi Sports, a joint venture between streaming platform IQiyi (a subsidiary of Chinese search engine Baidu) and agency Super Sports Media (a subsidiary of Chinese culture, sports…