English Premier League set to launch direct-to-consumer streaming in Singapore

SINGAPORE – In a first for the English Premier League (EPL), the popular football competition is set to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service in Singapore, its chief executive Richard Masters announced at the Financial Times’ Business of Football conference on Feb 26.

He told the audience at the Peninsula Hotel in London that owning and controlling its own platform will provide future “optionality” in certain markets, as it plans to launch a service in “partnership” with StarHub, its rights holder in Singapore from 2022-23 to 2027-2028.

Mr Masters said: “For the first time, we’re going direct-to-consumer in Singapore. It’s a very long, considered process, carefully chosen.

“We have a six-year agreement with StarHub, one of the two providers out there. So from next season onwards, Premier League Plus – rather than Premflix – finally, it’s going to happen.”

He was quoted as saying in The Athletic of The New York Times: “It will be a new app that you can download on your smart TV or laptop. You’ll be able to watch 380 games a season, with lots of shoulder content and a 24/7 dedicated channel.

“Will it be replicable elsewhere? That’s what we’re going to find out.”

Local telco StarHub said in a Feb 27 statement that this “collaborative trial” is expected to roll out from next season onwards, starting August 2026.

As discussions are ongoing, details on pricing, timelines or how the partnership works will be shared in due course, said its spokesperson, adding that there are no changes to its existing EPL packages.

The Straits Times has contacted the EPL for more information.

The direct-to-consumer platform was first announced by Mr Masters in 2020 to “lower subscription costs for fans” and “eliminate the middleman”.

The Premier League Plus model could be similar to the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) subscription service, which offers annual and monthly plans for fans here to watch matches on the official app.

Such channels have gained traction in European football recently. The Financial Times reported that the French Ligue 1 had launched its own streaming service this season after its broadcast deal with streamer DAZN unravelled, with the German Bundesliga also exploring a new streaming service.

Mr James Walton, sports business group leader of Deloitte Asia Pacific and South-east Asia, told ST that the Premier League’s move should mean more benefits for consumers.

“It will mean, in theory, that there will be more flexibility in the packages... At the moment, if you want to watch Premier League, you have to buy the StarHub package and it gives you access to all the games,” he said.

“I would expect we would probably see something that would allow you to follow a team, which is what we see being done with the NFL (National Football League) and Major League Baseball streaming apps out of the US – and it gives you access to all of their games for a fixed price, or one fixed price that allows you to watch all the matches or one fixed price per game.”

Dr Seshan Ramaswami, associate professor of marketing (education) at the Singapore Management University, also feels that prices should go down.

“The streaming service announced by EPL is a continuation of the phenomenon of entertainment brands moving to direct-to-consumer services,” he said.

“Netflix, Prime and many other streamers have practically destroyed cable TV as a source of entertainment. It is surprising that it has taken this long for EPL to go to streaming.”

He added that having its own platform will enable the EPL “to understand their customers directly, and importantly, collect a lot of data at the individual fan level which can lead to revenues from very targeted advertising”.

“When intermediaries are removed, typically there is some surplus gained and consumers should be able to gain a little in terms of lower prices,” Dr Ramaswami said, noting that other major sporting events such as the Olympics may follow suit.

While veteran economist Song Seng Wun believes the prices would go down initially, he said the EPL could still adjust the pricing some time down the road.

“Going direct should allow charges to be lower, but can it be, if you are the monopolistic owner and distributor at the same time?” mused the economic adviser at Singapore-based fintech platform SDAX.

“In theory, they can price the service at a high end. But I think the EPL is more likely to price the service at the lower level to attract customers, to lock customers in first.”

The announcement has drawn mixed reactions from EPL fans that ST spoke to.

Manchester United supporter Gilbert Teo, an account director, said: “This is great news. I’ve cancelled my StarHub plan previously due to the higher subscription prices... Would be good to see a lower price through this streaming service but my only concern is the streaming quality and whether they provide 4k coverage.”

Accountant Eugene Thiang, a Tottenham Hotspur fan, said: “I hope it would be much lower than what we are currently paying for; otherwise, I might as well carry on with StarHub as their sports package also allows me to access other sports like tennis or F1.”

The Financial Times reported that overseas broadcast deals now account for more than half the EPL’s median income, with figures from Enders Analysis showing that the league earned £2.1 billion (S$3.58 billion) from such deals last season, compared with £1.4 billion for the Spanish, German, Italian and French leagues combined.

While announcing its six-year EPL deal in 2022, StarHub declined to disclose how much it paid for the rights. In 2007, it reportedly paid $250 million for a three-year contract, before Singtel was said to have forked out $400 million for rights from 2010 to 2013.