Russia may shortly see the launch of a pay-TV channel dedicated solely to football, and in particular the English Premier League.
According to AKTR and Sport Express, talks between the state broadcaster VGTRK and Premier League are at an advanced stage and likely to be concluded by August 14. If successful, they will see the new channel carry both live and recorded games from the Premier League.
There is also the possibility at a future date that the channel may also carry games from the Russian Championship, the rights to which are currently held by the DTH platform NTV-Plus.
The value of the contract being negotiated between VGTRK and the Premier League is reported to be $10 million (€7.72 million) over a three-year period.
