Sky, BT, and Amazon hold the rights to live domestic TV, while Sky, BT, and Amazon have the rights to the Premier League games. The BBC has also shown Premier League games live during the pandemic, when fans were unable or unable attend matches.Government permission has been granted to the Premier League to extend its domestic television agreement with broadcasters for an additional three years.The new agreement with Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime Video will be in effect from 2022 through 2025.The previous deal was valued at 4.7bn.As a temporary measure in the wake of the pandemic, the government issued an exclusion order under Competition Act that allowed the league to renew without normal tender processes.Clubs were concerned that after a 10% decline in value since the 2018 rights deals were signed, there would be another downturn if an open-market auction was not agreed upon.Nigel Huddleston, Sport Minister, said that concerns about consumers experiencing higher prices due to the decision were carefully considered. However, the risk was deemed low and outweighed in the substantial public policy benefits that would result from providing stability for the English football pyramid.He said that broadcasters should expect to keep their packages priced at the current level.The Premier League agreed to contribute an additional 100m to "solidarity funding" for women's soccer, League One and League Two teams, as well as to the National League competitions, and grassroots games.The current level of financial support for the football pyramid has been guaranteed for four years. It includes a commitment to youth development funding and parachute payments. Over three years, the existing commitment was 1.6bn.Huddleston, an external-link spokesperson, stated that guaranteeing the 1.6bn through the exclusion order "would ensure stability for the football pyramid emerging from the pandemic".Huddleston wrote that this funding would be spread throughout the pyramid, including grassroots football, women’s football, funding to lower league clubs and long-term income for clubs planning for the future.This is critical given the football losses during the pandemic. The Premier League alone lost around 2bn.Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, stated that England's top flight wants "football partners" to make sure this investment helps the game recover.Masters stated in a statement that "this allows us to increase our support for the football pyramid and communities over the next four years which is vital after the significant impact Covid-19 had on football."
