Premier League Still Reigns Despite Domestic Rights Income Fall
The Premier League still banks almost three times as much as any of Europe’s other ‘big five’ football leagues in terms of domestic media rights, although the gap has narrowed, according to new research from KPMG.
Whereas in the previous three-year cycle, from 2016/17 to 2018/19, the Premier League received €12.1m (£11.1m) from domestic rights income per match – over four times more than the nearest challenger, Italy’s Serie A, with €2.8m – a sharp rise for the German Bundesliga has altered the picture.
In its latest three-year domestic rights cycle from 2019/20 to 2021/22, the Premier League’s domestic rights income per match has fallen by 22% to €9.4m per game, with Sky and BT Sport securing live rights for 200 matches – up from 168.
However, the Bundesliga’s domestic rights income in successive four-year cycles has rocketed by 85% from €2m per match between 2013/14 to 2016/17 to €3.8m per contest from 2017/18 to 2020/21.
There have also been significant increases in domestic rights values for Ligue 1 in France, rising by 59% to €3m per fixture in the cycle that will run from 2020/21 to 2023/24, and for La Liga in Spain, which is up by 29% to €3m from 2019/20 to 2021/22.
However, the Premier League’s lucrative overseas rights sales, which have increased by 35% cycle-on-cycle, have ensured the property’s overall rights income remains on an upward trajectory.
KPMG added that the Premier League’s international media-rights income is likely to exceed domestic rights in value in the next cycle of sales, from 2022/23 to 2024/25.
