English soccer's top-tier Premier League (EPL) will launch an in-house streaming service in Singapore in time for the 2026-27 season.
The digital and mobile app, to be called Premier League Plus, will enable subscribers to watch all 380 EPL games next campaign, and is being launched as a test case for the league, which will be potentially looking to replicate it elsewhere around the globe.
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This marks the first time the league will depart from its traditional coverage model, in which rights packages of matches are sold to broadcasters nationally (and in some cases, regionally). The income derived from such broadcast deals has formed the backbone of the EPL, becoming by far and away the world's most lucrative league for clubs and players.
This launch will, therefore, send chills down the spines of many pay-TV broadcasters around the world who rely on their exclusive rights deals covering live Premier League action to drive subscription numbers.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the 20-team league, announced the move while speaking at the Financial Times' Business of Football Summit in London yesterday.
Masters said: "For the first time, the Premier League is going to have its own customers. This is a new app you can download and have on your smart TVs, laptops, and watch 380 matches and loads of shoulder content, 24/7 channel service, and it's going to be an exciting product.
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By GlobalData"We're also looking to learn, to see how that might be replicated all around the world."
He added that the decision to launch a Premier League streaming service had been made following "a very long, considered process."
At the same time as the Singapore service goes live, the league will open a new production facility – Premier League Studios – in London.
The Singapore service will launch in partnership with the EPL's existing rights-holder in the country, StarHub (which holds rights through 2027-28 in a deal valued at almost $45 million annually), and will offer content 24/7.
Masters commented that the platform will be "a really exciting product, and the big change is I think that the Premier League will have its own customers, and means us delving into things like promotion and pricing."
Over the last few years, various owners of EPL clubs have advocated the league launching its own, 'Premflix'-style service.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, for example, told the same conference last year that the league should consider selling global broadcast rights directly to content streaming giant Netflix.
Will Padmore, senior data researcher at GlobalData Sport, has explained: "This announcement seems to have two main aims: signalling to broadcasters that they will need to continue to commit large sums to secure rights, and signalling to rival leagues that the Premier League is not ignoring the potential of a DTC model.
"The timing of this news suggests that this is the EPL setting out its stall ahead of tenders in key overseas markets, and ahead of the next round of domestic auctions.
"With market newcomer Paramount+ winning the recent Champions League rights and the lack of clarity surrounding the future of TNT Sports in the UK – given the recent confusion around the WBD sale process – the EPL cannot currently be sure of a favourable market when the domestic rights are next put out to tender. By signalling to all that they are prepared to minimise the role of broadcasters if necessary, they are hoping to persuade bidders in the UK to continue to pay significant sums to maintain their current access."
Padmore added that "by launching in Singapore, the league can gain useful data on the viability of a DTC model whilst also preventing rival leagues from stealing a march on the current market leader."
Prior to StarHub taking over EPL rights in 2022 (all 380 games per season are available through TV and digital, as are full replays), the league was shown in Singapore by Singtel.
In terms of when the league could cover games domestically through its own service, the contracts it has in place with its home-market partners – Sky, TNT Sports, and the BBC (for highlights) – run through 2028-29.
Those contracts are bringing in $6.45 billion over the four years for the league.
