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- No timeframe placed on when suspension will be lifted
- League’s previous contract with Rambler expired at end of 2021/22 season
English soccer’s Premier League has suspended its six-year deal with Russian broadcaster Match TV.
The previous deal with Russian media group Rambler was suspended in March after its country’s invasion of Ukraine and a new contract with Match TV, reported to be worth UK£43 million (US$53.5 million), had been set in place to cover the next six seasons.
But with the conflict in Ukraine showing no signs of easing, the Premier League announced at its annual general meeting in Harrogate that the new deal has been put on hold.
No timeframe has been placed on when the suspension will be lifted and the matter was not voted on by the top-flight clubs before the announcement.
The league’s previous contract with Rambler expired at the end of the 2021/22 season.
SportsPro says…
This decision from the Premier League is an expected one. However, the top flight must now contend with the spate of illegal Russian broadcasters looking to fill the void left by Match TV.
The Premier League is well aware of the commercial hit it already takes from piracy. A study from MUSO in 2019 found that the league’s clubs were missing out on UK£1 million (US$1.2 million) in sponsorship every game due to illegal broadcasts. Yousef Al-Obaidly, BeIN Media Group’s chief executive, has also warned that the ‘plague of piracy’ will see rights values plummet due to a loss of exclusivity.
In terms of other European soccer leagues dealing with the piracy problem in Russia, the Premier League could look to LaLiga as an example. In June 2020, the Spanish top tier won an anti-piracy ruling in Moscow to remove its content from three Russian websites that have been illegally streaming matches.
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