The Chinese state broadcaster, CCTV, has announced a new media rights agreement with the English Premier League, which will run until the end of the 2024-25 season.
CCTV is all set to initiate the broadcast agreement from this weekend onwards starting with Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton on Saturday and Manchester United vs Brighton on Sunday.
CCTV previously had rights to the Premier League back in 2019. During that season, it aired matches through a sublicensing agreement with the sports streaming service, PP Sports. PP Sports held gatekeeper Premier League rights in China from 2019-20 to 2021-22 before its contract was voided after the first season due to non-payment of license fees.
Previously, the Premier League was available live free-to-air for a variety of matches per week on CCTV. However, because of its dominant position as the only major national linear broadcaster, the broadcasting company customarily paid below-market rights fees.
In the coming three-season cycle, live Premier League coverage will also be accessible on two other platforms in China: iQiyi Sports and China Mobile’s Migu streaming service. Migu obtained the rights through a sublicensing agreement with iQiyi.