New TV deal delights Scudamore

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes England's top-flight clubs will be better able to compete in Europe following the announcement of a recession-busting live television rights deal.

The Premier League have sold the TV rights for the seasons 2013/14-2015/16 to Sky and new broadcast partner BT for the combined total of £3.018billion. The staggering new deal represents an increase of £1.245billion on the current partnership with Sky and ESPN and destroys any suggestion that the Premier League's bubble has burst.

"This will take our clubs up a notch closer to those clubs who benefit from the individual selling model, say in Spain," Scudamore said. "I hope this will keep our league as competitive as it can be, under a collective selling model, with the other leagues."

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