With the broadcasting rights of Premier League getting more and more expensive, the CSL has also decided to sell their rights at an amazingly high price. The bid for the 2016-2020 CSL Broadcast rights will start on September 25th. The bidders will include CCTVSE, Ti`ao Power, Infront, SMG Great Sports, IMG, GDTV, Double Edge and Beijing Evertop. CCTVSE as part of CCTV5, is considered the national team’s media of choice. Ti'ao Power own the broadcast rights of Team China. Infront merged with Wanda while GDTV and Great Sports are the local TV stations in Guangdong and Shanghai.

Of the bidders, CCTVSE, Ti'ao and Infront are being considered among the favourites to win the bid. For the two local TV stations, although they may be outbid in the first round, they could get the rights for their territories. The bidders may have to pay 80 million RMB bond, with the starting price being set at 300 million RMB a year. The bidders are requested to have more than 3 years of football experience with 200 match broadcasts.

On September 25th, each bidder will make a presentation and the CSL company will choose a partner. Two candidates were reported to have been disqualified and forced to withdraw from the bidding process. Other than the TV stations, Tencent, Sina, Letv Sports and PPTV will bid for the new media broadcast rights.

Source: Guangzhou Daily

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick