Abstract
This chapter focuses on the development, structure and various forms of 'consumption' of the English Premier League. The title of this chapter – 'A whole new ball game' – is derived from billboard and media advertisements BSkyB displayed to promote its coverage of the Football Association (FA) Premier League in the summer of 1992 after it had bought up the exclusive rights to broadcast its matches. The FA Premier League originally comprised 22 members that gave one year's notice of their intentions to resign from the Football League to set up the new league in June 1991. In 1992, BSkyB paid £304 million for five years' rights to broadcast 60 matches per season. From the outset, Premier League clubs have sold their broadcast rights collectively. The current overseas broadcast deals, which began in August 2016 and will remain in place for three seasons, usurp even these contracts and have a total value of around £3.2 billion.
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