The Premier League will be broadcast online in China from next season until 2018 after IPTV provider BesTV acquired the rights, reports www.sportspromedia.com/. The company has bought the rights from Super Sports Media, the media group which purchased the Chinese rights from the Premier League in August last year for upwards of US$50 million.

The Premier League chose to sign a longer-term deal in China than in other territories - six seasons rather than three - and agreed a deal which allows Super Sports Media Group to sub-license rights to a variety of regional broadcasters across China, as previous rights holder Win TV has for the last three seasons.

BesTV has broadcast the Premier League online since 2010. Local reports suggest that in the process of striking this latest deal the company has invested US$1.85 million stock into Super Sports for a stake of 14 per cent.

The rights cover the Chinese mainland and the administrative region of Macau.