Premier League agrees three-year, £367M deal with Qatari-based broadcasters beIN Sports

On Thursday, the Premier League announced its new three-year media rights deal with Qatari-based broadcasters beIN SPORTS to telecast its matches in 24 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The new £367 million agreement will see beIN SPORTS broadcast all 380 Premier League matches in each season live in the MENA region till 2025. Mike Ashely's Newcastle United were the only Premier League club to vote against the new deal during the “shareholder” meeting of the 20 clubs. 

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Premier League-beIN SPORTS deal: Newcastle United only club to vote against deal

According to reports from The Sun, 19 Premier League teams, including Saudi-owned Sheffield United backed the new beIN SPORTS broadcast deal, which is worth a whopping £367m. However, Mike Ashley's Newcastle United, who had a Saudi takeover deal fallout earlier this year, were the only club to vote against the deal taking place. 

Saudi-led consortium's failed takeover of Newcastle United

The Premier League demanded “appropriate information” from the Saudi-led consortium, which included the Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley amid talks of their Newcastle United takeover. However, following months of work and commitment, the Saudis officially withdrew their offer in September. Newcastle owner Mike Ashely claimed that the Premier League had rejected the deal but the League board fiercely dismissed Ashley's statement. Since then, Ashley has launched a legal case against the Premier League, which is yet to progress to a court date.

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All you need to know about the 'beIN Sports-Premier League rights deal'

The deal is for the 2022-2025 rights cycle and it means that beIN SPORTS can broadcast all 380 Premier League matches live during each season across all 24 countries in the MENA region. beIN SPORTS has been the Premier League’s broadcast partner since 2013.

Premier League chief Richard Masters claimed that he was delighted with the new deal with beIN Sports, saying, "I am so pleased that we have agreed a significant deal with beIN Sports, who are a longstanding and valued partner. They have an outstanding track record of delivering top-quality Premier League content across all its platforms". 

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Chairman of beIN Media Group, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, also issued a statement on behalf of the broadcast company, saying, “We are delighted to renew our long-established and trusted partnership with the Premier League through to 2025. This deal demonstrates that rights-holders who do the most to protect their intellectual property also do the most to protect the value of their media rights."

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