History of Premier League UK TV Rights Deals 1992-2026
History of Premier League TV Rights Deals 1992-2026: Right now, in 2026, two main channels show Premier League football live in the United Kingdom. They are Sky Sports and TNT Sports.
You might remember TNT Sports by its old name, BT Sport. It changed its name in 2023 after the company was taken over. But it is still the same channel, showing the same matches.
The BBC also has a deal with the Premier League, but not for live games. The BBC shows highlights only through the famous programme Match of the Day. This deal means fans can watch a review of all the weekend matches for free on BBC One every Saturday night.
How much does the current deal cost?
The current Premier League TV deal in the UK is worth £6.7 billion. That is the total price for four years, from the 2025–26 season all the way to the end of the 2028–29 season.
To understand how big £6.7 billion is, if you stacked £1 coins on top of each other, they would reach higher than the moon. That is how much money we are talking about.
Sky Sports alone committed around £6.4 billion of the total deal, because Premier League rights remain the crown jewel of their subscription business. Without Premier League football, millions of people would cancel their Sky subscription. That is why Sky keeps paying more and more every time a new deal comes around.
The £6.7 billion combined rights fee is an increase on the £5.1 billion paid in the previous deal by Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC Sport.
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How many games do Sky Sports and TNT Sports each show?
This is where it gets interesting. The new deal gives fans more football than ever before.
| Broadcaster | Games per season | What they show |
|---|---|---|
| Sky Sports | 215+ games | Saturday evenings, Sunday afternoons, Friday nights, Monday nights, midweek rounds, and all 10 final-day matches |
| TNT Sports | 52 games | Saturday 12:30 pm kick-offs and two midweek match rounds |
| BBC Sport | All 380 (highlights only) | Match of the Day highlights no live games |
Sky’s acquisition of four out of the five live rights packages marks its biggest win since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. Sky is now responsible for broadcasting more than 80% of all live domestic matches.
One very exciting thing about the new deal: for the first time, Sky Sports will broadcast all 10 matches live on the final day of each season. This is huge for fans because the last day of the season is often the most dramatic, with title races and relegation battles all happening at the same time.
Check out our guide on How to watch football matches for free to enhance your viewing experience.
History of Premier League TV Rights Deals from 1992 to 2016:
Since the start of premier leauge the TV deals has be very lucarative and even the first 5 year deal starting from 1992 to 97 was worth a massive £191 million in domestic tv rights which were secured by SkySports. But ever since with every passing deal the prices has been rising ultimately providing alot of revenue to clubs. Here is the table showing the TV rights deals of the Premier League since its inception back in 1992. Here is the full picture:
| Years | Length | Broadcaster(s) | Games / Season | Total Value | Cost per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–97 | 5 yrs | Sky Sports | 60 | £191m | £0.64m |
| 1997–2001 | 4 yrs | Sky Sports | 60 | £670m | £2.79m |
| 2001–04 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports | 110 | £1.2bn | £3.64m |
| 2004–07 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports | 138 | £1.02bn | £2.47m |
| 2007–10 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports + Setanta | 138 | £1.71bn | £4.12m |
| 2010–13 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports + ESPN | 138 | £1.77bn | £4.28m |
| 2013–16 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports + BT Sport | 154 | £3.01bn | £6.53m |
| 2016–19 | 3 yrs | Sky Sports + BT Sport | 168 | £5.14bn | £10.19m |
| 2019–22 | 3 yrs | Sky + BT + Amazon | 200 | £4.80bn* | £8.00m |
| 2022–25 | 3 yrs | Sky + TNT + Amazon + BBC | 200 | £5.10bn | £8.50m |
| 2025–29 | 4 yrs | Sky Sports + TNT Sports + BBC | 267 | £6.70bn | £6.27m |
The 2016-19 Premier League TV Rights Deal Bidding War:
There will be 168 games to be offered in 7 different packages unlike 154 games offered in the 2013-16 deal. SkySports will be looking to atleast retain the four first pick packages which will get them around 124 live matches a season and BTsports most definitely want to increase the current 38 games a season deal.
So if EuroSport and Qatar Sports network (beIN Sports) get serious into the bidding war the price of the three year deal might soar upto £4.5 billion for the 2016-19 deal. On Friday, 06 February 2015 Premier League will start accepting bids from the networks.
Check out the World’s Highest Paid Football Managers to enhance your knowledge.
2016-19 Premier League UK TV Rights Deal Packages:
Live games are sold in packages for example the current UK Tv deal get SkySports 118 live matches a season which consists of 4 big packages and 1 small package. While BT Sports has 1 big package and 1 small, making it 38 matches a season. Both channels will be looking to atleast retain the current packages for the next season which will get them more live games a season. Because 5 of the 7 big packages have 28 games per season while 2 small packages have 14 games per season.
So it will be interesting to see how the bidding war goes on friday night but the most likely outcome will of course by in SkySports and BT Sports sharing the same amount of games at slightly increased price.
