The English Premier League, the top division of football in England, will break through the £5 billion (€6.24 billion/$7.93 billion) mark in rights fees per three-year cycle for the first time as it wraps up its overseas sales process for the 2013-14 to 2015-16 seasons, according to the Guardian newspaper.
The report said that league chief executive Richard Scudamore will tell the competition’s club executives at a meeting on Thursday that the overseas sales process for the next three-year cycle will be completed by Christmas.
Deals covering the Middle East, North Africa, South East Asia and Oceania should be announced in the next fortnight, with further deals in Europe to follow before the end of December, the newspaper added.
The Premier League has already completed its domestic rights sales process, having struck deals in June with pay-television broadcaster BSkyB and telecommunications company BT worth a combined £3.018 billion from 2013-14 to 2015-16, marking a 70-per-cent increase on the previous three-year cycle.