Competition for the rights underlines how the Premier League is growing in the United States
The Premier League is closing in on a record-breaking television rights deal in the United States.
Second-round bids for the rights, which have been held by NBC since 2013, are due to close by 18 November.
The six-season deal from 2022-2028 could raise up to $2bn (£1.49bn) with NBC, CBS and ESPN vying for the rights.
That would double the current amount and vindicate the Premier League's approach to selling their TV rights, which continue to increase in value.
In May, the Premier League announced it had rolled over its £4.7bn domestic three-year deal with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC Sport to 2025.
At the time, this was viewed as being the start of a contraction in their television income.
However, BBC Sport understands the decision was made in order to bring some stability to the league at a time when the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the market was still unknown and the Premier League was already dealing with the fall-out from the decision to cancel its contract in China, that had been worth over £500m.
Whilst uncertainty in China remains, security within the Premier League over its domestic contract allowed it to go into overseas markets with increasing confidence.
In the US in particular, it was felt that there was significant room for growth given the competition between the major broadcasting outlets.
The Premier League's global appeal - and time slots that do not tend to clash with major US sports - has provided an advantage that is set to secure a deal that could see overall TV revenues from 2022-25 reach £10bn for the first time, once all the deals for overseas rights are completed.
- Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment
Source: bbc.com