Coliseum Sports Media and Television New Zealand (TVNZ) have acquired the broadcast rights to the Premier League from 2013/14 to 2015/16 in New Zealand, reports www.sportspromedia.com/. The newly formed Coliseum Sports Media has reportedly struck a deal for the rights to all 380 Premier League matches per season after agreeing terms with MP & Silva, which acquired three Asian and Australasian territory packages for audio visual broadcast rights England's top-flight competition from the Premier League in November 2012.
Coliseum have partnered with free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ as part of the agreement.
Coliseum's PremierLeaguePass.com pay-per-view service will provide coverage of all 380 Premier League fixtures per season, while TVNZ will provide free-to-air coverage of one Premier League match each Sunday, as well as a one-hour weekly highlights programme.
The rights acquisition sees the Coliseum and TVNZ replace Sky as the Premier League's Kiwi broadcaster.
There are concerns among Kiwi fans, according to New Zealand press reports, that the new deal will significantly increase the amount it costs to watch Premier League matches.
"This gives a chance for all of New Zealand to see English Premier League and not only half of it," Coliseum chief executive Tim Martin told Stuff.co.nz. "We've got three years [contract] and we're going to give it a real go. Over the next few weeks we will have more announcements."
"We want to make access to these sorts of sports more accessible for New Zealanders. This will be a new experience for Kiwis. The advances in technology allow us to achieve this. It's been a long time coming."
"We're excited to be working with Coliseum to give TV viewers a chance to see the world's most watched and closely followed football competition," added TVNZ's Jeff Latch in an interview with the New Zealand Herald. "We know football fans are passionate supporters of the beautiful game.
"These are exciting times to be in the media business and this is a fascinating development for premium sports content that we expect to be welcomed by New Zealand viewers."
