Chinese streaming platform iQIYI has struck an broadcast rights deal with the English Premier League. The deal gives it four years of football (soccer) coverage kicking off with the new season that begins in a couple of weeks.
The deal gives iQiyi exclusive new media broadcast rights in mainland China and Macao. State-owned China Central Television remains as the terrestrial broadcaster.
The agreement follows the acrimonious collapse of the EPL’s previous multi-year deal with PPTV in 2019 and its replacement with a one-season deal for 2020-21 with Tencent Video.
A season pass will be offered at RMB318 and include all 380 Premier League matches in advertisement-free format, live at 1080/50-frame HD and with multilingual commentary. An early-bird offer of RMB228 for the season is available to fans signing up before the beginning of the season.
iQiyi Sports is a joint venture between Baidu-owned iQIYI and Chinese sports media and marketing company Super Sports Media, which is backed by sports and entertainment investor DDMC Group.
It was launched in 2018 and recently offered the Euro football championship. Its other football coverage includes Italy’s La Liga and the Asian Football Confederation.
