The long-awaited allocation of English Premier League (EPL) Middle East television rights is expected to be announced next week - not a moment too soon for football fans anxious to know how they can watch the August kick-off.

Several industry sources point to Al Jazeera Sport, a major network that has been successful in building both its brand and coverage, as a strong contender in bidding for the three-year EPL rights, which could fetch $350 million or more.

A win for the Qatari broadcaster remains far from certain, with some rivals insisting no deal is done. Yet such an acquisition is seen by some commentators as a natural fit given Al Jazeera’s rapid emergence as a top-league player in sports.

Infographic: Collecting trophies: How Al Jazeera is winning the leagues (Design by Farwa Rizwan / Al Arabiya English)

The broadcaster is known to have held talks with media broker MP & Silva, which in January said it had acquired the three-year regional television rights to EPL games. MP & Silva has been engaged in negotiations to resell these rights to one or more broadcasters across 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

Five months later, football fans are still in the dark as to how they can watch next season’s games featuring teams like Manchester United and Chelsea. But a deal will be announced soon, said Fadi Zouein, the Dubai-based business development director at MP & Silva.

“The discussions are still in place,” Zouein told Al Arabiya. “We’re hoping by next week we can announce something”.

Speculation is rife as to which media player is closest to clinching the rights to the tournament.

Abu Dhabi Media (ADM), the previous rights holder, has also held talks with MP & Silva about extending its broadcast deal. But its bid is believed to be less than half the $360 million ADM paid for the rights to the 2010-2013 seasons.

Rival Al Jazeera Sport, an arm of the Qatar-based broadcaster, is tipped by some as favorite to win the regional rights to the tournament from 2013 to 2016.

One of the top media executives in the region, who did not wish to be named, told Al Arabiya categorically that “Al Jazeera has won it”.

Some regional commentators shared the same view. “I also understand that Al Jazeera has got it,” said Thomas Kuruvilla, managing director at Arthur D. Little Middle East.

Nick Grande, the managing director of Channel Sculptor, a television consultancy in Dubai, said he too believes the Al Jazeera Sport Channel (AJSC) has won the EPL rights, adding that the delay in an announcement could be due to technical issues.

“The first news that AJSC had won the rights came on 8th April from the ‘Doha Stadium’ website. Since then, a number of similar claims have been made – all from Doha,” Grande told Al Arabiya. “My guess is that a handshake deal was done at the end of March, but the negotiation of thorny issues such as EPL’s requirement for paired cards and set top boxes have taken a long time to resolve.”

Other informed sources, however, say the goal is still open for another player to score the prize.

“If Al Jazeera had acquired the rights, they would have announced it,” said one high-profile media executive. “MP & Silva is still out there trying to sell the rights.”

“The discussion is still ongoing,” said another. “If they’d got it, why didn’t they announce it?”

Al Jazeera did not respond to requests for comment, while Zouein refused to comment on whether Al Jazeera is indeed the favorite to win the rights.

One stumbling block to an EPL deal for Al Jazeera is the security of the network’s TV platform, according to some in the industry.

Al Jazeera’s existing pay-TV platform is “not compatible” with the anti-piracy measures required by EPL broadcasts, said one industry source. ADM and rival broadcaster OSN are believed to be the only regional players with the required levels of security on their TV platforms.

Others say that Abu Dhabi’s ownership of the EPL team Manchester City should not be overlooked in ADM’s determination to renew its rights deal.

I wish Adsports will have it again...their set top box is very standard

Aljazeera wins premier league right

Aljazeera wins premier league right.At last let's see what the package is gonna be like.I guess we shud be expecting an encrytpted decoder.let's pray its is beamed to well to west africa.and hope its still remains on nilesat7west.

confirmed!

Jsc have come to an agreement with mp & silva. check this link
http://www.euronews.com/sport/2030684-al-jazeera-buys-premier-league-tv-rights-in-middle-east/

So what stations will show the EPL matches?

I dont think African beam is announced yet, may be DSTV still has it. Jsc may broadcast it by HD on another frequency in MENA

mecussey: I dont think African beam is announced yet, may be DSTV still has it. Jsc may broadcast it by HD on another frequency in MENA

hmmmm are you sure?You have beinsport hd live here in lagos and also jsc hd channel.sine its off foot print satellite you need nothing less than 3m to enjoy your sports channel.
badr 26,nilesat,ab7 and hotbird.This 3 satellites are there for you to enjoy your jsc sport.

obnelly:

hmmmm are you sure?You have beinsport hd live here in lagos and also jsc hd channel.sine its off foot print satellite you need nothing less than 3m to enjoy your sports channel.
badr 26,nilesat,ab7 and hotbird.This 3 satellites are there for you to enjoy your jsc sport.

Wat r d trackin freq nd SR for AB7,tanks

obnelly:

hmmmm are you sure?You have beinsport hd live here in lagos and also jsc hd channel.sine its off foot print satellite you need nothing less than 3m to enjoy your sports channel.
badr 26,nilesat,ab7 and hotbird.This 3 satellites are there for you to enjoy your jsc sport.

Please, who is beinsport, and I know jsc sports has HD 1 and 2, do they have more now? Epl needs at least five dedicated channels but jsc +1 to 10 are already dedicated to other leagues and not on mandatory pairing yet. Did you mean dstv dont have the right to show Epl this season?

Aljazeera will be lunching 3 new hd channels more in readiness for the big kickoff soon, so i heard, then multichoice has a 3 yrs extension for our region.

olenyi:

I thought TopTV was contesting?

mecussey:

I thought TopTV was contesting?

Are we yet sure it was a bidding or that their licence is still on.

Olenyi, how have u been? Quite a while..
Pls gurus, I need clearification about what dish size to track aljazeera,beinsport,nilesat,badr and ab7.
Also, if I can get a good installer in lagos preferably around ojodu should send me a text msg on 08038048945 and I'l call back...also, can 2m fibre track all dis channels successfully or we need min of 3m
I want to get aljazeera in our house...pls I need help, thanks !

Gud am my pple.pls can we d pple of nigeria watch epl on aljesera dis comming season

Omoakin5: Gud am my pple.pls can we d pple of nigeria watch epl on aljesera dis comming season

Dstv has d right in 9ja, Aljazeera has d right in mid-east & north africa but with big dish u can receive jsc to watch epl

Obnelly, what is the situation with jsc sports on nilesat as jsc +5 to +10 has just been taken off ( maybe temporarily ) hotbird.

It seems the award of EPL rights to Aljazeera is not going to be good for most Nigerians. I gathered from a reliable source that Jsc sport 1-4 will not show the EPL,they will only show some skeletal matches especially La liga and champion league. Only jsc 5-10 and Jsc HDs will show EPL,La Liga and Champions league. Right now Jsc5-10 has been removed from Hotbird,also Jsc-1.2.9 and 10 on Nilesat have also gone. We are only left with Jsc 1-4 on hotbird and Jis 1-5 on Nilesat. Presently there is Jsc 1-6HD on nilesat but it is not receivable here in Lagos. Though Jsc HD pop up on hotbird yesterday but the signal has been withdrawn for now. So those who have big dish should assist in helping to check may be there will be favourable development. You can read further on this website: http://www.sat-universe.com/showthread.php?t=256215&page=4

badaru1: It seems the award of EPL rights to Aljazeera is not going to be good for most Nigerians. I gathered from a reliable source that Jsc sport 1-4 will not show the EPL,they will only show some skeletal matches especially La liga and champion league. Only jsc 5-10 and Jsc HDs will show EPL,La Liga and Champions league. Right now Jsc5-10 has been removed from Hotbird,also Jsc-1.2.9 and 10 on Nilesat have also gone. We are only left with Jsc 1-4 on hotbird and Jis 1-5 on Nilesat. Presently there is Jsc 1-6HD on nilesat but it is not receivable here in Lagos. Though Jsc HD pop up on hotbird yesterday but the signal has been withdrawn for now. So those who have big dish should assist in helping to check may be there will be favourable development. You can read further on this website: http://www.sat-universe.com/showthread.php?t=256215&page=4

OMG this is really bad news for us here as me might be stuck with dstv exploitation. Damn our big dish could as well be useless. My guess is that it has to do with jsc avoiding right issues with european broadcasters especially in the uk, i remember nova sports had the same problems. So we can prepare to say goodbye to hot bird .


Btw what up with the toptv and startimes deal and any hope for us here in Nigeria

Here in Abuja,I have clear reception of Aljazeera sport +1 to +10 on nilesat ,hoping that the epl is shown on any of the channels, I recently renewed my AJS annual subscribstion for AED 250 in dubai

I use 2.4 Dish .

^^^^

@nzeval. What's with the hidden post?

^ ^^ honestly, i dont understand the mod view

^ ^^ honestly, i dont understand the mod point view.

@HAH, pls can u E-mail ur no. 2 my box. I need u 2 help me out with tracking jsc sport +6-+10. Thanks

bounju: @HAH, pls can u E-mail ur no. 2 my box. I need u 2 help me out with tracking jsc sport +6-+10. Thanks

Reception of jsc is largely dependent on your location and dish size.

The frequency for jsc +6 to 10 is Nilesat
11.958/H/27.500