Sky Sports has secured rights to show “near-live” highlights of the Premier League online for three years starting in 2016.
The deal also means News UK titles the Sun and Times will be able to continue offering highlights as part of their digital packages through an arrangement with Sky.
News UK has held the rights for online highlights since 2013, through a separate deal thought to be worth £20m. Sky last held rights for highlights delivered via mobiles for three seasons starting in 2007, then in partnership with News International, the previous name for News UK.
Sky parent 21st Century Fox and News UK’s owner News Corp are controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
News UK chief executive Mike Darcey said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with Sky Sports for this exclusive distribution partnership, which gives us the green light to continue bringing Premier League clips to our engaged customers for another three years.”
“It was a competitive process with lots of interest from across the industry, which is testament to the innovation displayed by, and intuitive marketing campaigns created by, teams at News UK since first winning the rights in 2013. This new partnership with Sky Sports will undoubtedly bring a better product to market for our customers.”
Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said: “The way people watch sport is changing rapidly and this agreement ensures Sky Sports will continue to offer the best coverage across TV, mobile, online and social media.”
The highlights package comes on top of the 126 live Premier League games a year Sky is able to show after paying more than £4.1bn for a three-year deal earlier this year. Rival bidder BT secured 42 matches a year at a cost of £960m, with competition between the two driving the value of broadcasting the Premier League to more than £10m per game.
