The season starts on 13 August, with newly-promoted Hull City hosting champions Leicester City in the first fixture, at 12.30pm. This will be the first of 126 games shown on Sky throughout the year – more than any previous season.
The partnership deals will see bet365 sponsor Monday and Friday night games – marking the first time the Premier League has had regular Friday fixtures. Bet365 will also sponsor all games shown on the dedicated Sky Sports channel provided to commercial premises.
Nissan, meanwhile, will sponsor all Saturday and Sunday matches. Alongside TV coverage, the carmaker will be the sole sponsor for Premier League previews, reviews, articles, stats, facts and figures on the Sky Sports website. The site has seen a rapid increase in video consumption, with views during 2015 up 175%.
The new sponsorships were negotiated by Sky Media, the advertising sales division of Sky with Manning Gottlieb OMD acting for Nissan and with Drummond Central and Republic of Media working for bet365.
Nissan GB marketing director Chris Marsh said: "Innovation and excitement are at the heart of what we do at Nissan, and as we saw last season the unexpected nature of the Premier League makes it one of the most exciting football leagues in the world. Sky Sports offers customers more of the biggest games than other providers – one of the reasons why this partnership is such a perfect match for Nissan."
Anyone for tennis? No, sorry.
Sky’s deal to show live Premier League football for the next three seasons, secured last February, is worth £4.18bn – an 83% increase on the amount it paid for the previous three.
This sum gives it the right to once again show 126 matches a year – five of the seven packages of matches available. BT Sport again took the remaining two, which include 42 matches, paying £960m for the privilege – up from £738m.
But there are signs that the weight Sky has placed behind maintaining its football coverage could be taking a toll on its broader offer.
The broadcaster has dropped coverage of the US Open tennis championship after 25 years – its longest continuous coverage of any sport event – with the reporting that tennis personnel are blaming this on the increased financial toll of supporting the Premier League deal.
Sky has denied this, however, pointing out that it has struck more than 20 rights deals since the last Premier League one, including golf’s Open Championship, which had previously been broadcast free-to-air for 61 years, and all Formula One races except the British Grand Prix.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
