Suning-owned PPTV holding back US$209m English Premier League China TV rights cash: report
- Payment, which was due in March, believed to have been delayed due to coronavirus pandemic rather than strained UK-China relations
- Chinese market is English Premier League’s most lucrative with current deal until 2022 sold for US$719 million
Chinese streaming giant PPTV is withholding a £160 million payment owed to the English Premier League, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The money, which was due in March, is part of the current television rights deal and its non-payment has fuelled fears for the finances of several of the top tier’s 20 teams.
Suning-owned PPTV bought the rights for the 2019-2022 broadcasting cycle for £564 million (US$719 million) in 2016, which made the China rights the league’s biggest earner and dwarfed the reported US$160 million paid by Super Sports for the previous cycle covering the 2013-14 to 2018-19 seasons.
The Mail also reported that the league has responded to the late payment by rejecting a contract extension covering 2022 to 2025.
It suggests that the non-payment, which the league consider to be a breach of contract, is down to the coronavirus pandemic. England’s top flight was on hold from March 13 to mid-June because of the virus.