Singapore telecommunications company SingTel has renewed its rights deal with the English Premier League for three seasons, from 2013-14 to 2015-16. It has signed a non-exclusive deal for the rights.
SingTel acquired live rights for all 380 matches per season. Because it acquired the rights on a non-exclusive basis it is not obliged to share the content with rival telco Starhub. The Singapore government introduced cross-carriage regulation in March 2010. The law lays down that the two operators must share content acquired on an exclusive basis, limiting competition in the market and, as a consequence, driving down sports rights values.
The legislation was introduced because of intense competition between the two platforms for the Premier League rights in the current cycle, from 2010-11 to 2012-13, which pushed the rights fee up by 60 per cent. The deal meant that Singapore became the league’s single most lucrative territory outside of the UK.
The league could earn more in rights fees should Starhub or pay-television channel ESPN Star Sports also decide to acquire non-exclusive rights for the new cycle.
Jeannie Ong, head of corporate communications and investor relations at StarHub, warned that the telco would be keen to acquire Premier League rights, “only if the price is right” and only after it had sought clarification from the Premier League on why it did not issue a tender in Singapore for the new rights period.