£43m deal with Match TV set to go ahead from the start of the 2022/23 season as things stand
The English Premier League has not yet decided its course of action regarding an upcoming broadcast deal with Russian network Match TV, according to reports. The deal, which is worth £43m is set to kick off at the start of the next season, 2022/23.
Earlier in the year, during the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the league decided to cut ties with Rambler Media, with whom they had a €7m broadcast agreement. Rambler was showing EPL matches on its live streaming platform Okko Sport and had been all season, until the deal was binned by Premier League executives.
It is as yet unclear whether or not the Premier League will do the same with the Match TV deal. With the war ongoing, it may decide to wait it out and make a decision closer to the start of the season. There's the possibility of them suspending the deal with a view to activating it when the war is over. The option which would have the most public support would likely be a complete termination of the agreement with Match TV and a refusal to sign broadcast deals with Russian companies until the situation in Ukraine vastly improves.
However, right now nobody knows which course of action the Premier League will take.
Match TV, which is owned by Gazprom Media, was officially opened by Russian president Vladimir Putin himself. Links between the broadcaster and the Kremlin are there for all to see and under current circumstances, this deal does seem untenable.
Nonetheless, the Premier League have refused to speak on the matter until now. They were clear and firm when they axed the Rambler deal but for now, the Match TV agreement is going ahead until we learn otherwise.
Ukrainian left back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who last weekend won the Premier League with Manchester City gave his opinions on Instagram when he called on all sporting organisations to "stop the sale of rights to broadcasts of international sporting competitions to Russian media."
In an interview with the AP, Zinchenko also said:
“They are surviving in my country because of Russian aggression. I’m so proud to be Ukrainian, and I would love to one day bring this title to Ukraine, for all Ukrainian people, because they deserve it.”
The Premier League has a decision to make regarding the upcoming Match TV deal, as it attempts to balance its need for income with its public image. Needless to say that if it choses to honour its agreement with the Gazprom-backed broadcaster despite the war in Ukraine continuing, fan backlash would be immense.
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