Move for live sports content comes with soccer league set to return after Covid-19 shutdown.

UK free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster FreeSports has acquired rights to the Chinese Super League (CSL), according to the Daily Mail.

The CSL is set to become the first major soccer competition to return to action after a coronavirus-enforced shutdown. China’s top-flight was postponed indefinitely on 22nd February, almost two months after the Covid-19 outbreak was officially confirmed in the state’s northern city of Wuhan at the end of last year.

Though the virus has since become a global pandemic, shutting down virtually all sporting competition, the CSL is tipped to resume play by the end of April or beginning of May, after the Chinese government lifted its enforced lockdown earlier this month.

While its other top-tier soccer rights properties, such as Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A, remain out of action, it appears Premier Sports, FreeSports’ pay-TV parent company, has taken the opportunity to bring live content back to its platform.

However, according the Mail, the network could look to sublicense its CSL rights to UK rivals Sky Sports, which is also hamstrung by the absence of live competition, notably English soccer’s Premier League.