Al Jazeera poised to enter 2012 bidding war for Premier League broadcasting rights

Al Jazeera is poised to enter the bidding for the rights to host live Premier League TV matches, The Sweeper can disclose. The Middle East-based media giant is keen to get a foothold in the Premier League market and is prepared to enter the auction to screen games from the start of the 2013-14 season when the tender process begins early next year.
It is understood that Al Jazeera’s main priority is to bid for the exclusive Middle East and north Africa broadcast rights package, which is currently held by the Abu Dhabi Media Company. But the TV channel is also considering a shock entry into the pay-per-view UK market, where the live rights are currently shared between Sky, who hold five of the six 23-game packages, and ESPN. The Premier League is halfway through a three-year domestic deal worth a record £1.782bn, but invitations to tender for the next round of TV rights are likely to be distributed in January or February, with the winners announced next summer.