Official: NBCU Grabs Premier League Rights

Gains exclusive English and Spanish rights for all 380 league matches

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/28/2012 8:24:50 PM

As expected, NBCUniversal won the bidding for the Barclays Premier League media rights. Late Sunday, the companies officially announced a multiyear agreement that begins with the 2013-14 season.

Reports state that the deal is $250 million over three years.

Per the deal, NBCU gains all exclusive English and Spanish media rights for the United States, for all 380 Premier League games. NBCU will utilize NBC, NBC Sports Network and NBCSports.com to present live coverage. Telemundo and mun2 will provide Spanish-language coverage. NBC Sports Live Extra will provide live-streaming platforms on tablet, mobile and web devices. Specific programming details will be announced at a later date.

NBC Sports Group will also produce shoulder programming around its live-event coverage of the Premier League, including pre- and post-match shows, as well as highlight and weekly wrap-up programs. The Barclays Premier League season runs August-May, with each of the 20 teams playing 38 matches.

"The Barclays Premier League is the preeminent soccer league in the world, and is on the cusp of exponential popularity growth here in the U.S.," said Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBC Sports Group. "NBCU will provide the broadest programming and promotional commitment that the league has ever experienced here in the United States. The Premier League provides NBCU with best-in-class content for 10 months of the year across our far-reaching broadcast, cable and digital platforms. This is a perfect match."

Incumbent Fox Sports Media Group, which submitted a joint bid with ESPN, dropped out of the bidding last Friday (Oct. 26). Their contract ends following this season.