There Could Be Some Huge Changes To How We Watch The Premier League

Sky Sports have held a stranglehold on Premier League television rights, until the emergence of BT Sports who have secured rights to some of the biggest games in England. Though the pair of media giants could face some intense competition for future Premier League rights.

Sky and BT forked out billions to acquire rights for English top flight football between 2016 and 2019.

But according to Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward, internet powerhouses Amazon and Facebook are set to bid for Premier League rights.

_{Do you like Facebook's interest in Premier League rights? Image: PA}

Their potential involvement will only inject more cash into the Premier League.

Woodward adds that Amazon and Facebook were very interested in the last round of rights deals for 2016-19, before they were eventually sold to Sky and BT.

"Absolutely, I think they will enter the mix; anecdotally, there was incredibly strong interest in the last cycle," he said via The Guardian.

_{Sky cameras in place at Goodison Park. Image: PA}

"We are hearing that around the Premier League table and we are also hearing that from a European perspective in terms of interest in the Champions League and Europa rights."

_{BT Sports secured rights to the Champions League, beating Sky in the auction process. Image: PA}

Woodward adds: "I do think we are going to see an increasing engagement from these and we would welcome the interest."

Amazon have already flexed their financial muscle after sealing the UK rights to the ATP tennis tour, outbidding Sky with a reported £10 million payout.

_{Carragher and Neville working as pundits for Sky. Image: PA}

What's more, Facebook have struck a deal with the Major League Soccer to air their games, with both companies harbouring ambitions to broadcast the lucrative T20 cricket in India (IPL).

Online streaming is becoming more prevalent, with Amazon and Facebook's desire to bid for Premier League rights only reinforcing that sentiment.

Premier League games on Amazon and Facebook? Watch this space.

Topics: Premier League

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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