OCTOBER 26, 2012, 6:53 PM
NBC Sports Group Outbids Fox for E.P.L. Rights
By KEN BELSON AND RICHARD SANDOMIR
Fox Soccer has lost the rights to broadcast English Premier League games in the United States, the latest blow to a channel that once dominated the soccer scene on American television.
Fox and ESPN jointly bid for the three-year contract starting in 2013 to show E.P.L. games, but they appear to have been outbid by the NBC Sports Group, which has been eager to find must-see sports shows for its recently rebranded NBC Sports Network.
Fox has broadcast the E.P.L. in the United States for nearly two decades, growing along with the world's most popular league. ESPN broadcast about 80 of Fox's E.P.L. games each year under license.
But NBC has bid about $85 million a year for the new E.P.L. rights, just under four times more than Fox currently pays for the rights, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. Greg Hughes, a spokesman for NBC Sports Group, declined to comment.
If NBCSN wins the E.P.L. rights, which will be announced in the coming days, it would boost their struggling lineup. NBCSN wildly exceeded all its past records during the London Summer Olympics, but it is without any N.H.L. games because of the ongoing lockout. Its other programming includes Major League Soccer, cycling, boxing, college sports, bull-riding, hunting and fishing, as well as a variety of studio shows.
But it does not carry N.F.L games, and the NBC Sports Group chose not to spend lavishly to acquire the rights to Major League Baseball.
Sports Business Daily first reported that Fox and ESPN had been outbid by NBC Universal.
In a statement, Lou D'Ermilio, a spokesman for Fox, said: "We were disappointed to learn today that English Premier League has elected to move forward with a different media partner despite Fox Sports Media Group's aggressive bid."
Fox Soccer still has the rights to broadcast a sizable number of games, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's Europa League, the F.A. Cup, the Concacaf Champions League and Gold Cup. Fox also will broadcast the World Cup and Women's World Cup beginning in 2015.
Viewership of E.P.L. games on Fox Soccer peaked in the 2009-10 season at 149,000 viewers. This season, the league's games have averaged 136,000 viewers.
beIN Sport, a new sports network started by Al Jazeera that has aggressively bid for soccer rights, declined to say whether it has bid for the United States rights to the E.P.L.
In August, beIN Sport won the rights to broadcast the top leagues from Spain, Italy and France in the United States, as well as the American national team's World Cup qualifying road games. GolTV lost the rights to La Liga, Spain's top league, and Fox Soccer was outbid for the rights to show Ligue 1 from France and Serie A from Italy.
beIN Sport is available in far fewer households than Fox Soccer, ESPN and NBC Sports Network.
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/nbc-sports-group-outbids-fox-for-e-p-l-rights/