Premier League overseas TV rights worth £5.3bn and more than domestic deals for first time ever
THE Premier League’s overseas TV rights have topped a whopping £5.3BILLION - eclipsing domestic deals for the first time EVER.
Clubs have been told the value of foreign TV deals will exceed contracts with Sky, BT and BBC for the first time from the 2022-23 campaign.
While domestic contracts have been rolled over for a further three years totalling £5.1bn, the new overseas deals will total £200k more.
And even though the Prem clubs have agreed to fund the football pyramid to the tune of an enhanced £1.6bn over the next three years, it confirms SunSport’s revelation that next term’s champions will bag a record £176million and the bottom club £106m.
The new deals represent an increase of 16 per cent to the total broadcast income and will kickstart talks between the Prem and EFL on a new funding regime, although the top flight remains keen to retain the parachute payment system.
Clubs have also agreed to end all Covid restrictions by the end of the season - so they can have a clean start to next term.
The 20 club bosses, meeting in London, agreed a number of the current Covid regulations will end immediately.
It means that, while social distancing will still be recommended indoors, restricting demanding face masks and limiting numbers in treatment rooms will end.
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Players and coaching staff will now just have to undertake two lateral flow tests per week, although positive samples will still rule players out of action.
But clubs are now at liberty to conduct pre-match press conferences in person and to allow the broadcast cameras into training grounds.
The hope is that a gradual lifting of all remaining restrictions will be lifted before the end of the season, including the return of post-match news conferences.
League bosses want a return to “pre-Covid” conditions by the final two match rounds in May, allowing next season to begin restriction-free.
Clubs were informed by policy and corporate affairs director Helen MacNamara urgent talks were ongoing with police and other authorities to try to get to the bottom of the recent upsurge in fan disorder.
Prem chiefs accept that the incidents are mirroring post-lockdown situations across Europe but believe there is a need for a co-ordinated response.
That could lead to more stewards travelling with away fans or greater numbers of police on duty at matches.
The meeting was the first attended by new FA chair Debbie Hewitt, who flew in direct from Abu Dhabi where she personally informed Fifa president Gianni Infantino that the five British Isles associations were pulling out of the race to host the 2030 World Cup in favour of a bid for Euro 2028.
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