And he has every reason to be. He has more or less completed the round of overseas rights deals which will earn the Premier League more than
£1 billion ($1.6 billion) over the next three years.

That’s an increase of some 60 per cent on the previous round and has been achieved in the face of a recession which has ravaged many business sectors and hit consumer confidence hard.

When the next Premier League season kicks off in August, live coverage will be seen in 211 countries, although fans in Russia may have to sit this one out.

The size of the offer made by that vast country’s sole remaining sports broadcaster was considered so derisory that the Premier League may simply refuse to sell. Determination not to allow the value of the brand to be undermined can be seen as a further indication of the confidence which Lines and his colleagues have in the product.

He is also expects that discussions over the launch of the Premier League’s own channel will be approved and come to fruition for the new season. It’s a project which has been under consideration for some considerable time and would make the Premier League the highest profile sports governing body outside of North America to take such a step.

The 24 hour-a-day, HD channel would be offered to its licensees who will decide how it can best be used to suit their own business objectives. It will not, emphasises Lines, be sold in competition to other rights.

“In any territory where the licensee doesn’t want to use it, it simply disappears,” he says.

In a media environment which has altered significantly since Lines’ last interview with SportBusiness International, the availability of the Premier League Channel is likely to prove attractive to licensees for a number of reasons.

“The increasing importance of Telcos in the content market has certainly been significant. They have now worked out what they need to play the content game and you have to remember that they come from a world where the product is essentially the same. There are phones and you can make calls on them and the commercial contest was always about price and quality of service.

“They bring some of that thinking to the content market which they see in new ways. They are not traditional broadcasters and so don’t necessarily want to be involved with in-house production. For them, the idea of buying in a channel is certainly appealing from cost and from other perspectives.

“Other licenses may use the Premier League channel as a separate High Definition channel run alongside their local language coverage of live games and magazine programming.”

The Premier League will bear the cost of operating the channel - which won’t be available in the UK - and although it’s more or less impossible to calculate exact amounts, Lines is confident that it will more than pay for itself by acting as a driver for rights fees.

“Right now we are very happy with the way the rights negotiations process has gone and the fact that we have achieved such a significant hike in income,” Lines says.

“We were certainly well placed to avoid the worst impact of the economic downturn. In a recession people tend to stick to what they know best and that applies to broadcasters. Over the last 10 years or so we have proved that we can deliver for them. And although we may cost more than other content, there’s no point in paying less to buy something which doesn’t work for you.”

For the full interview see the latest edition of SportBusiness International published March 1.