Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Jazeera Network, the Qatar-based broadcaster that started a sports channel five years ago, may bid for the rights to show English Premier League soccer matches in the Middle East, two people with knowledge of the talks said.

The network is in talks with the league about the rights, which cover three years beginning with the 2010-2011 season, they said. They declined to be identified as the bidding process hasn’t started yet.

A deal may help Al-Jazeera lure more viewers to its sports channel and bolster advertising sales. Al Jazeera Sports, which can be watched in countries across the Middle East and North Africa, already broadcasts Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Lega Calcio Serie A. The broadcaster also has the rights for the UEFA Champions League from 2009 to 2012.

Last time the rights were sold, Al-Jazeera lost out to pay- TV network Showtime Arabia, which shows live matches across the Middle East and North Africa. Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based Showtime Arabia is owned by investment firm Kuwait Projects Co. and Viacom Inc., the U.S. media company controlled by Sumner Redstone.

The Premier League said it will invite broadcasters to bid for the rights to show the games outside Britain once the local rights sale has been completed. The league last month sent out invitations to tender for the domestic rights for the three seasons from 2010 to 2013.

Al-Jazeera’s English soccer offering has so far been limited to FA Cup, the national knock-out competition.

International Rights

A spokesman for Al Jazeera didn’t immediately respond to calls and an e-mail seeking comment. Dan Johnson, a spokesman for the Premier League, said the process for the sale of international broadcast rights had yet to begin.

Premier League teams on average get about half their revenue from broadcast agreements that have ballooned in the past decade. The current U.K. deal for Premier League rights, worth about 1.7 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) over three years, expires in 2010.

The league’s total broadcast agreements, which include international rights, are worth 2.7 billion pounds over three seasons, ranking it as the world’s richest soccer league. The most popular teams and players, such as Manchester United and its Portuguese-born star Cristiano Ronaldo, have a global following.

Al-Jazeera, which means “The Island” in Arabic, began operations in 1996 and is financed with money from the Emir of Qatar, advertising sales and cable subscription fees. Besides the original Arabic-language flagship channel, Al-Jazeera now runs other channels including Al Jazeera Sports and an English- language news channel.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simon Thiel in London at sthiel1@bloomberg.net; Tariq Panja at in London on tpanja@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 8, 2009 19:01 EST