Premier League announce new China TV deal

The Premier League on Thursday announced a new broadcast deal in China.

Tencent Sports have reached an agreement with the league to show every game from this coming weekend until the 2020-21 season, with more than half the fixtures shown free-to-air. The rest will be available via a subscription.

The Premier League decided to find a new broadcast partner in China after the previous rights holder PPTV - who signed the league's largest overseas rights deal in 2019 - failed to make a payment in March.

The deal, which was set to run until 2022, was subsequently terminated.

Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, said: “We are excited to have agreed this partnership with Tencent ensuring our supporters in China can enjoy following Premier League action throughout this season.

“We and our clubs have an extremely passionate fanbase in China and are looking forward to working with the team at Tencent to engage with fans in new ways over the coming season.”

In their statement confirming the agreement, the Premier League confirmed it would continue to "explore opportunities" for more free-to-air coverage in China beyond this season.