Premier League China

The English Premier League is popular in many parts of Asia. Bloomberg news reveals that the world’s richest soccer league is trying to gain viewers to build its brand in China. While China Central Television (CCTV) refuses to pay a premium for the TV rights, local pay-per-view television network WinTV has failed to attract significant subscribers.

Phil Lines, the Premier League’s head of international broadcasting and media operations, says that “world-wide brands” in the sporting goods, soft drinks and alcoholic beverage industries are forming a consortium that will bid for the Premier League’s overseas rights, which currently generate 625 million pounds ($911 million) over three seasons. If successful, the bidders would give CCTV the rights in exchange for free advertising during matches, Lines added.

Football battles with basketball for the attention of China’s 1.3 billion people, who’ve played other sports, such as table tennis. The National Basketball Association's (NBA) popularity has soared since the Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming entered the league in 2002, and 14 live games a week are shown on CCTV. Also Europe’s other top leagues like Italy’s Serie A and La Liga in Spain are broadcast on free television, bringing those matches to far more homes. The Premier League’s appeal stems from its ability to attract talent from across the world, such as Manchester United's Portuguese-born star Cristiano Ronaldo, named FIFA world player of the year earlier this week.

Premier League viewed online

Meanwhile The Guardian reports on another threat facing the English Premier League: rogue websites that show football matches for nothing and pub landlords who broadcast foreign feeds.

Such rogue sites reregister a domain name, using false names and addresses, and sign up with an ISP in a less protected country – 60% of peer-to-peer activity has been coming out of China. Already millions of computer users across the world watch matches live without paying a subscription fee. The Premier League fears that the mainstream use of broadband and the increased popularity of watching video online make widespread piracy a very real prospect, which could seriously reduce the amount broadcasters are prepared to pay.

With many of the illicit feeds originating from China and elsewhere around the world, the Premier League is reliant on specialist internet firms to track them down and persuade internet service providers to punish individuals. Late last year, the Premier League threatened action against the US website, Justin.tv, which allows its users to share and stream footage from all over the world. It has also launched a high-profile class action against YouTube, which is expected to be heard in the US later this year.