The Premier League has sold television rights to its games for £5.136 billion, more than double the cost of similar rights last time.
Sky paid £4.2 billion for five out of seven TV packages, while competitor BT paid £960 million for the remaining two out of seven options.
Under the terms of the agreements, BT will show 42 matches a year, a increase from 38 matches last period, with the television rights of games valued at £7.6 million per game. Sky will pay £11.07 million per game to show 126 love games under the new agreement.
The contracts will last three years, with the 2016 auction expected to fetch even more.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said the money raised from the auction would be invested in stadiums and youth development at Premier League clubs.
Virgin Media, which failed to win the rights to broadcast any Premier League games, described the auction as ‘exploitative’, and a process that gave football officials the right to ‘print money’. Last week, the cable internet and TV company asked Ofcom to halt the auction process until the regulator had completed its investigation into competition in the premium televised sport sector.
