LONDON – The English Premier League (EPL) announced that MP & Silva has been awarded the live audiovisual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14 – 2015/16 in the Middle East and North Africa region that consists of 23 individual countries. Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We know MP & Silva well as they have acquired other Premier League rights for the 2013-2016 period, and in previous seasons. We are pleased to be working with them again and are confident that they will distribute all the best Barclays Premier League action in a comprehensive and innovative manner to fans in the Middle East and North Africa.” Andrea Radrizzani, MP & Silva Group CEO, said: “We are extremely excited to extend the distribution of BPL to the MENA region. With this new addition, MP & Silva is now partnering with the Premier League in 40 countries across Asia, Pacific and MENA. It is a very distinctive and strategic partnership for us. We are glad that the Premier League recognizes our leadership in the market and we are looking forward to using our network of broadcasters to improve audiences of top-class English football in MENA.” MP & Silva will be the exclusive distributor of the Barclays Premier League TV rights, mobile and digital media for the territories of Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia, Egypt and Djibouti. The Barclays Premier League is the biggest continuous annual global sporting event in the world. Last season more than 13m fans attended matches with average stadium occupancy in excess of 92 percent for the fourth season in a row. Across nine months of the year 380 matches are viewed in 212 territories worldwide. Coverage of the matches is available in approximately 720 million households with an estimated cumulative global audience of 4.7 billion. – SG
