Pl To Offer Free-to-air Overseas Rights

According to media reports, the Premier League is planning to offer free-to-air coverage of top-flight games to emerging markets as it restructures its sales approach to overseas rights.

The move is believed to be part of a drive to further grow the appeal of the Premier League in emerging markets such as China, Africa and India.

At its two-day annual general meeting this week the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, and his head of international broadcasting and media operations, Phil Lines, are believed to be putting forward a plan designed to counter the threat of American sports and rival leagues.

Previously the league has tended to sell the rights to the highest bidder but, under the new proposed structure in the overseas markets it will look to make at least one package of live matches available to a free-to-air broadcaster in a bid to expand its reach.

The Premier League, which sells the rights itself on a territory-by-territory basis, has become the most popular football league in the world over the past decade, available in 662m homes.

Under the current deal, income from overseas rights has more than doubled to £625m, a figure that is expected to increase further when the new contracts are offered on a staggered basis across the rest of the year. From the last overseas rights contracts, 81 deals were agreed covered 211 territories.

Having already banked almost £2bn from domestic live rights and highlights for the three seasons from 2010-11, the Premier League is hopeful of persuading its chairmen that it is worth taking a hit in emerging markets in return for growing their reach.