LONDON — The Premier League is relying on global eyeballs watching games to drive up the clubs’ wealth.
For the first time since the competition began 30 years ago, more cash will be generated from overseas broadcasters for the next three seasons than from domestic stations.
Clubs were informed by the league at a meeting of top executives on Thursday that it projects a total of 5.3 billion pounds ($7.2 billion) will be generated from foreign rights once deals are concluded, up from 4.1 billion pounds in the current three-season cycle.
The windfall surpasses the 5.1 billion pounds being generated for the domestic rights after the uncertainty caused by the pandemic saw the league last year strike an agreement to roll over the existing deals with Sky , BT Sport and Amazon Prime Video through 2025.
The huge demand internationally to show the Premier League — and the willingness to commit more cash than ever to buy is the rights — was clear with the windfall secured from the United States.
NBC, which like Sky is owned by Comcast, has agreed to pay more than $2.7 billion to continue showing the world’s richest soccer competition — almost trebling the value of U.S. broadcast rights.
