Premier League Suspends Russian TV Deal
The English Premier League has suspended its television broadcast deal with Russia’s Match TV following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Athletic has reported that Premier League clubs were told on Thursday morning about the decision to suspend the multi-year deal with Match TV. The contract is a six-year agreement that runs through 2028, worth £43m and was due to commence at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Both Formula 1 and WWE terminated their contracts with Match TV earlier this year.
Match TV is part of the Gazprom Media group, whose parent company is Gazprombank, which is owned by Gazprom where the Russian government has majority ownership. In addition, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree in 2009 to order Match TV to open.
The Premier League is the first major European football league to suspend a broadcast deal for next season.
In March, the Premier League suspended its previous Russian broadcast deal with web portal Rambler following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The league has now reached the end of its three-season agreement with the web portal. Rambler is also strongly linked to the Russian state through its parent company Sberbank.
Match TV has continued to broadcast the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A, however, although both leagues have displayed anti-war messaging during their broadcasts. The German Football League (DFL) has also pledged to donate all revenue from its agreement with the Russian broadcaster towards humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
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