The Russian Premier League has formally unveiled its new three-season deal with pay-television broadcaster NTV Plus, which has also acquired international rights to the top division of domestic football.
The Premier League approved the deal, which will be worth R1.98bn (€27.4m/$30.3m) for the ongoing 2015-16 season, earlier this month.
The deal covers the 2015-16 to 2017-18 seasons of the top division of Russian football and was initially announced in July. The 2015-16 campaign kicked off on July 17 without a formal contract in place, but with NTV Plus continuing to broadcast games.
Further details of the contract have now been revealed at an official presentation, with NTV Plus also securing rights to the Premier League outside Russia. NTV Plus will broadcast a minimum of 40 key games during the 2015-16 across its stable of channels. This marker will increase to 45 matches in subsequent campaigns through new sports platform Match TV, which is set to commence broadcasting on a free-to-air basis on November 1.
Russian Premier League president Sergey Pryadkin said: “We are entering a new qualitative level of the Russian football championship. There are new stadiums, improved comfort and safety of fans is growing interest in the tournament from partners and sponsors. In 2018 Russia will host the Fifa World Cup. The attention of the football world is being focused on our country and our championship.”