Premier League agrees bumper £560m Chinese TV rights deal

Chinese streaming service PPTV will pay as much as £650m to show Premier League games over the next three years, in what will be the football competition's largest ever overseas broadcast deal.

PPTV is a unit of Suning Holdings Co, who bought a majority stake in Italian football giants Inter Milan earlier this year.

If the reported value of the deal is proven to be accurate, it would be 10 times the value of the current deal in place in China.

The Asian superpower has made efforts at an institutional and company level to invest in the sport, after president Xi Jinping spoke of his desire for China to win a World Cup tournament by 2030.

English clubs such as Manchester City and Aston Villa have received investment from Chinese companies this year already.

Last year, British companies Sky and BT agreed to pay over $5bn for a three-season agreement, a record amount for broadcasting rights in Britain. With the league boasting some of the biggest global stars, such as Paul Pogba, Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero, the rights are much-sought after by broadcasting companies.

PPTV paid $270m in 2015 for the media rights to La Liga, the Spanish equivalent of the Premier League, featuring European superpowers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.. It also has licensing and agreements with CBS studios and the professional wrestling league WWE.