The English Premier League is closing in on a record-breaking television rights deal in America. According to reports, second-round bids for the rights, which NBC has held since 2013, are due to close by 18 November this month.
The deal will run for six seasons from 2022-2028 could raise up to $2bn (£1.49bn) with NBC, CBS and ESPN vying for the rights.
That would double the current amount and vindicate the English Premier League’s approach to selling their TV rights, increasing in value.
In May, the English Premier League board announced that it had rolled over its £4.7bn domestic three-year deal with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC Sport to 2025. At the time, this was viewed as being the start of a contraction in their television income.
However, BBC Sport understands the decision was made to bring some stability to the league during the coronavirus pandemic.
It was reported that the league was already dealing with the fall-out from the decision to cancel its contract in China, which had been worth over £500m.
Whilst uncertainty in China remains, security within the Premier League over its domestic contract allowed it to go into overseas markets with increasing confidence.
In the US in particular, it was felt that there was significant room for growth given the competition between the major broadcasting channels.
The Premier League’s global appeal and time slots that do not tend to clash with major US sports has provided an advantage set to secure a deal that could see overall TV revenues from 2022-25.
It will reach £10bn for the first time once all the deals for overseas rights are completed.