Premier League's £2bn-plus TV rights auction goes to second round
Sources suggest new bidder, thought to be al-Jazeera, has entered contest against BSkyB and ESPN.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012...rights-auction
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The Premier League's £2bn-plus auction of live UK television rights has gone to a second round with sources indicating a new bidder, thought to be al-Jazeera, has entered the fray against incumbents BSkyB and ESPN.
Bids for the second round of the auction for UK TV and digital rights to 154 Premier League games a season for three years from August 2013 are due in at lunchtime on Wednesday, with a good chance that the winners will be announced later the same day.
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"The sense is there is a new bidder out there with a potentially serious offer and everyone thinks it is al-Jazeera, although no one can be 100%," said one industry source. "The question is how many packages they are targeting, meaning Sky or ESPN."
If there are clear winning bids for all the TV packages after the second round the Premier League will announce the result quite swiftly, possibly Wednesday afternoon or by Thursday at the latest, unless a third round auction is required.
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Al-Jazeera took French broadcasters by surprise last year, taking on incumbent Canal+ and snapping up live football rights including Euro 2012 and Euro 2016, Uefa Champions League football and the FA Cup. It launched a channel in France on 1 June.
The broadcaster also intends to launch two channels in the US in August, for which it has secured rights for football leagues in Spain and Italy.
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