(Reuters) – The Premier League was awarded $213 million by London’s High Court on Tuesday following the collapse of their broadcast deal with China’s PPLive Sports International.
The Premier League terminated their contract with PPLive in September 2020 after the broadcaster, part of the retail group Suning that also owns Serie A club Inter Milan, defaulted on payments due in March and June that year.
Judge Peter Fraser ruled that PPLive owed the Premier League payments of $210.3 million and $2.673 million as part of the deal’s live action and clips package agreements, respectively, as well as interest.
“The Premier League welcomes the judgment handed down by the High Court today relating to non-payment of fees by PPLive, its former broadcast partner in China,” the league said in a statement.
“The Premier League will robustly enforce its contractual rights when it has no other option available. The League notes the judge’s view that PPLive had ‘no real prospect of success’ defending the claim.”
“The bar is high for a summary judgment application and this decision highlights the strength of the League’s case.”
PPLive paid around $700 million for three years of Premier League streaming rights from the 2019-20 season, reportedly a marked increase in revenue for the league compared to their previous deal with Beijing-based Super Sports Media.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
