China Xiaokang.com September 4th News Lao Ma The English Premier League, which has long faced increasing losses due to the ongoing impact of the novel coronavirus crisis on football and other sports events, announced on Thursday that it has terminated its most profitable overseas broadcast contract because it cannot resolve disputes with its Chinese partners.
Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland Niles (left) and Watford's Roberto Pereira in the game
New York Times reported that the Premier League had been in secret negotiations with its Chinese broadcasting partner Suning Group for months because Suning failed to pay about $200 million to the Premier League in March this year, a record three-year agreement worth more than $700 million reached by the two sides. Suning is closely controlled by one of China's wealthiest people.
's contract with Suning Group has exacerbated the predicament of the Premier League. The Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world. The Premier League was forced to refund millions of dollars to TV companies in the UK and overseas due to the impact of the coronavirus on the 2019-20 season. Having to play in a stadium without spectators cut off a lucrative source of income in the Premier League, causing further economic losses to the league, and revenue from the game is unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus levels by next year.
"The Premier League confirmed that it had terminated the regional league broadcast contract with the Chinese regional franchisee today," the Premier League confirmed the decision in a brief statement.
PP Sports, a subsidiary of Suning Group, which broadcasts these games, said in a statement that "after multiple rounds of talks, PP Sports and the Premier League" failed to reach an agreement on the broadcast copyright fee.
"The global epidemic has brought many challenges and is more prominent in copyright negotiations," Suning's statement said.
Although Suning shows this decision as a pure business act, the decision was made at the time of deterioration of Sino-UK relations. In July this year, Britain overturned its previous decision and announced a ban on Chinese tech giant Huawei from providing equipment for British high-speed mobile networks, angering China. In June this year, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised that nearly 3 million people in the former colony would be allowed to live and work in the UK if China imposes the new national security law on Hong Kong, arousing anger from Beijing.
Since its establishment in 1992, the Premier League has become the most well-known export commodity in the UK, and its competitions are broadcast in more than 200 regions around the world. Richard Scudamore, who has long served as the CEO of the Premier League, is often invited to join the UK government's trade missions to go to markets of strategic importance.
For a long time, the Premier League has regarded China as a place with particularly noteworthy development potential, and often held the Premier League Asian Cup in Hong Kong and mainland China. This is not only a brand promotion event, but also a warm-up event for the Premier League offseason.
