Premier League reach new Chinese TV deal with Tencent

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After terminating their contract with PPTV in March for non-payment of monies owed, the Premier League has now signed a deal with Tencent for them to become their new broadcasting partner in China until the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

The £564m contract with PPTV was activated last summer, but with Suning Group, who owned PPTV, failing to make a £160m payment in March, the league cancelled the contract even though it had two years left to run.

Tencent will make over half of the remaining 372 matches free-to-air, and the rest will be paid for via subscription.

The deal brings to an end the uncertainty in an area where the Premier League will hope to continue to make great strides with their product.

Indeed, it’s understood that, in a first for the Premier League anywhere in the world, they will allow clubs to share short in-play clips in order to attain maximum engagement from their Chinese viewers.

“We are excited to have agreed this partnership with Tencent ensuring our supporters in China can enjoy following Premier League action throughout this season,” Premier League CEO, Richard Masters, said, cited by the Daily Mail.

“We and our clubs have an extremely passionate fanbase in China and are looking forward to working with the team at Tencent to engage with fans in new ways over the coming season.”

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