Premier League wins $212m in China TV ruling
January 12, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Hong Kong’s PPLive Sports TV streaming service has been ordered to pay the English Premier League (EPL) at least $212 million (€186.5m) by a London High Court judge.
PPLive signed a deal with the the EPL to show both live and delayed football matches and game highlights throughout China. The deal was set to run for three seasons starting in 2019-220. However, EPL bosses terminated the agreement in September 2020 and said they were owed two instalments from PPLive – who failed to honour payments amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.
“In many commercial contracts events may transpire other than as anticipated by one, or even both, contracting parties,” said Justice Peter Fraser. “That does not mean that the court will rewrite the parties’ bargain and impose different terms upon them to suit those later events. That is not the function of the law of contract.”
The judge ruled that the EPL would receive $210 million plus $2.67 million costs.
Perhaps not helping the judge’s verdict was the Associated Press stating that PPLive Sports had not even paid their London lawyers.