Chinese Streaming Platform iQiyi Signs 4-Year Deal with English Premier League

Jul 22, 2021, 20:29pm2021/07/23 09:08:39 Pandaily

According to an official news released by the English Premier League, Chinese streaming platform iQiyi<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> has struck a deal with the English Premier League, giving iQiyi<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> exclusive new media broadcast rights in Mainland China and Macao for the 2021 to 2024 football seasons.

As a joint venture between Baidu<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder />-owned iQiyi<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> and Chinese sports media and marketing company Super Sports Media, iQiyi<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> Sports has recently offered broadcast the Euro football championship. The platform will continue to broadcast more football tournaments such as La Liga, World Cup Asian qualifiers (Top 12) and AFC Champions League.

In order to meet the needs of Chinese football fans, a season pass will be offered for 228 yuan and include all 380 Premier League matches in HD 1080, ad-free, and with multilingual commentary commencing July 22.

In September last year, PP Sports, which previously held the broadcast rights to league matches, issued a statement terminating its cooperation with the English Premier League. Wang Dong, president of PP Sports, said, “The epidemic has made everyone invest in sports copyright more rationally and calmly and to evaluate the value system of the right deal.”

After that announcement, Tencent<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> Sports reached a cooperation agreement with the league, agreeing to a $10 million deal to broadcast the remaining 372 events from 2020 to 2021.