Sky Sports scores Premier League video clip rights
July 22, 2015
By Colin Mann
Sky Sports has further strengthened its position as the home of the Premier League by winning the rights to show clips from every Premier League game across its digital platforms.
The three-year agreement, starting from the 2016/17 season, will see clips from every Premier League match being made available to both mobile and online users, with packages that will include in-match content and highlights.
As part of the deal, Sky Sports has entered into an exclusive distribution partnership with News UK that will see clips also being made available across The Sunday Times, The Times and The Sun digital services. In January 2013, News International, the then publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun, secured the near-live mobile and Internet rights to 380 Premier League games per season under an exclusive three-year deal beginning with the 2103-14 season.
The rights were previously shared by ESPN, the American broadcaster, and Yahoo!, the Internet company.
Up to 35 million users a month access Sky Sports’ digital media services and the addition of Premier League highlights from all 380 matches each season will further enhance the award-winning service to customers, delivering more of the greatest Premier League moments on digital platforms.
Sky Sports Managing Director Barney Francis said: “Sky Sports is the home of the Premier League and this will allow us to offer our customers even more content across mobile and online. The way people watch sport is changing rapidly and this agreement ensures Sky Sports will continue to offer the best coverage across TV, mobile, online and social media. However they choose to watch, our customers will have all the defining moments from the Premier League at their fingertips for years to come.”
Mike Darcey, CEO, News UK, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with Sky Sports for this exclusive distribution partnership, which gives us the green light to continue bringing Premier League clips to our engaged customers for another three years. It was a competitive process with lots of interest from across the industry, which is testament to the innovation displayed by, and intuitive marketing campaigns created by, teams at News UK since first winning the rights in 2013. This new partnership with Sky Sports will undoubtedly bring a better product to market for our customers.”
In February, Sky Sports secured exclusive rights to the Premier League from 2016-17 to 2018-19, winning five of the packages available and increasing the number of live games to 126 per season.