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Topics: Football, Premier League, Sky Sports
Chris Byfield
Amazon is considering a potential bid for Premier League television rights that could affect Sky Sports and TNT Sport’s monopoly in top-tier coverage, a fresh report has claimed.
The Telegraph has reported that despite speculation Amazon Prime Video would walk away from its current small package of Premier League matches, there is understood to be some interest in at least one of the five packs for the new four-year cycle.
An increase from the current three-year term is reportedly proving appealing to the likes of Amazon and DAZN as there is more long-term certainty regarding production investment.
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Indeed, the prospect of new competitors vying for Premier League rights is more likely to worry TNT than Sky, with the latter having a stranglehold over the most valuable top-tier rights including Super Sunday and Monday Night Football.
The Telegraph claims that Amazon and DAZN would be expected to bid for the cheaper of the five new packages, which offers between 42 to 65 fixtures.
TNT currently screens 52 live matches a season, including 32 Saturday 12:30pm kick-offs.
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However, the publication has stressed Sky and TNT remain in pole position to retain the majority of matches
The process for the new deal began last month, with 270 of the Premier League’s 380 matches on offer, up from 200.
As well as all of the games on the final day of the season, all five midweek rounds that take place will have every match available for broadcast.
Each current established kick-off slot of Saturday 12.30pm and 5.30pm, Sunday 2pm and 4.30pm, and Monday or Friday 8pm is being maintained.
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The process of selling entire rounds of matches on a standalone basis has been abandoned after previous attempts to do so failed to bring money through the smaller deals eventually adopted by Amazon.
The current three-year cycle of broadcast rights was rolled over due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The Premier League will continue with its no-single-buyer rule, thereby preventing any one broadcaster from owning more than four of the five packages.