Premier League signs four-year agreement for global radio rights
MUMBAI: UTV Media’s radio arm talkSPORT has signed a four-season deal with the Premier League to broadcast the commentary of all 380 matches outside Europe through Internet and mobile applications.
talkSPORT will broadcast the matches in multiple languages including English, Spanish and Mandarin. The deal is the biggest development for the station since its launch.
From August 2012, sports fans outside Europe will have access to a new global audio service from talkSPORT that aims to offer unparalleled access to Premier League football along with other relevant sports audio. The company also intends to establish a network of global radio partners in markets like Asia, North America and Africa.
talkSPORT CEO Scott Taunton said, “This is a huge development for us which builds on the significant progress the station has made in UK in recent years. I’m really excited about the potential for talkSPORT as a global brand, invoking the same passion in listeners and advertisers overseas as it does in UK. We’ll be expanding our London office studio and production space and I can’t wait to see the buzz on match days.”
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said, “We are extremely pleased to enter into a new international agreement with talkSPORT and welcome them as our new global audio rights partner. As we’re seeing in the closing stages of this season the Barclays Premier League is a compelling competition and radio rights are important to ensure that as many fans as possible can follow the League and their club.”
The 20 team league is the richest and most popular domestic competition in world soccer. Its global television sales are worth a record 1.4 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) over three years, with live matches shown in more than 200 countries.
talkSPORT is already an official broadcaster of the Barclays Premier League in UK, broadcasting 64 games a season. The company is also seeking to acquire overseas rights for Spain’s top soccer league and English soccer’s FA Cup as well as international cricket and rugby.
