A deal with China’s retail giant Suning will make the English Premier League $700 million richer over the next three years.
Suning bought the football league’s three-year television rights for the hefty sum of $700 million, making broadcasting rights in China the most expensive in the world outside of the UK.
The deal is worth 10 times the Premier League’s current China contract and is the biggest-ever overseas sale. The deal will kick in from the 2019-20 season.
The Premier League is expected to generate over £8.3 billion from new contracts and global broadcasters between 2016 and 2019, which is 50% higher than the previous three-season period.
Suning also bought five-year rights for Spain’s La Liga for $265 million as well as a controlling stake in Italy’s Inter Milan football club for $300 million in June.
Chinese Premier Xi Jinping has previously publicly discussed his obsession with football, which attracted Chinese investors to the sporting market. One Chinese consortium invested $400 million in Manchester City football club in December 2015 whilst another bought Italy’s AC Milan team for $820 million earlier this year.
