As a result of the disruption and severe financial consequences of the pandemic, the government agreed to legislate, by granting an exclusion order, to allow the Premier League to renew its current broadcast agreements with current UK broadcast partners for an additional three-year period starting 2022 to 2023, without conducting the normal tender process.
In consideration for granting the exclusion order (which disapplies the Chapter I prohibition (as defined in section 2(8) of the Competition Act 1998) and the Chapter II prohibition (as defined in section 18(4) of that Act)), the Premier League agreed to pay at least £1.6 billion of funding to the football pyramid, supporting football through the pandemic.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has published a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the parties, which sets out the details of the government's agreement with the Premier League and how the funding will be distributed.(1)
For further information on this topic please contact Ross Sylvester at Wiggin by telephone (+44 1242 224 114) or email ([email protected]). The Wiggin website can be accessed at www.wiggin.co.uk.
Endnotes
(1) For a link to the MoU, click here.