Viasat to Serve as Swedish Home for Barclays Premier League

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group’s (MTG) Viasat Broadcasting has scooped up the exclusive broadcasting rights to England’s Barclays Premier League in Sweden for the next three seasons.

MTG currently has the rights for the league in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Ghana. Through the new deal, signed with Medge Consulting, which holds the rights to the Barclays Premier League in the Nordic region, MTG will broadcast matches starting in the 2010-11 season in August until the end of the 2012-13 season on Viasat Fotboll, Viasat Sport & Viasat Sport HD pay-TV channels and on a new dedicated Viasat Premier League HD channel. MTG will air live coverage of a minimum of 228 matches each season, on every weekend from August to May, as well as weekly shows with highlights, profiles, interviews and analysis. Viasat’s sports channels are available on the Viasat satellite platform in Sweden, as well as through all major third-party IPTV and cable networks. The Viasat Premier League HD channel will be made available on the Viasat satellite platform.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “England’s Premier League football is one of the world’s leading sports properties. It attracts large television audiences around the world and is the perfect addition to our already strong lineup of premium sports coverage. There is huge interest in English football in Sweden and a tradition of close links with the English league.”

He added, “The deals struck regarding the Premier League rights across the Nordic region will change the broadcasting landscape in terms of premium sports coverage. We have demonstrated our ability to secure key rights because of our unique offering of free-TV and pay-TV channels on multiple distribution platforms. Viasat clearly provides viewers with the best mix of premium sports content available in the market.”

Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the FA Premier League, added: “Medge Consulting’s successful sub-license agreement with Viasat for the Swedish market is further proof of the popularity of the Barclays Premier League in the Nordic region. We are extremely confident that Viasat will broadcast Barclays Premier League football in a comprehensive and innovative manner.”

Peter Liljestrand of Medge Consulting commented: “We are very excited to have signed this ground breaking agreement with Viasat, and look forward to continued close cooperation over the coming years.”