The English Premier League is launching its very own streaming service in Singapore, giving residents there the opportunity to pay a subscription fee to watch every single match next season live.
The new service follows in the footsteps of other major sports leagues such as the NFL, which have taken it upon themselves to livestream their product direct-to-consumer.
Singaporeans will be able to subscribe to Premier League+ and watch all 380 games during the 2026/27 season, starting in August. They’ll also be able to access additional content, such as match replays, highlights and documentaries made by the Premier League.
Traditionally, sports leagues always used to partner with broadcasters, selling the rights to cover their games on a country-by-country or regional basis. For instance, in the U.K., the Premier League sells the rights to broadcast live games to Sky and others.
However, some sports authorities have decided it might be more profitable to do the broadcasting themselves. In the age of streaming, it’s much easier to launch an app than it is a dedicated TV channel, and sports are taking advantage of that. For instance, Formula 1 has its own streaming service called F1 TV, which is an alternative to traditional broadcasters. Doing this, it gets to keep all of the profits for itself.
For now, the Premier League sees this as a test. Premier League+ will only be available in Singapore, as part of an effort to test the waters and see what kind of demand there is. The launch follows the organisation’s decision to create its own production company, Premier League Studios, to film matches.
"This is a new app you can download and have on your smart TVs, your laptops, and watch 380 matches and loads of shoulder content, 24/7 channel service and it's going to be an exciting product," said the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters. "We're also looking to learn, to see how that might be replicated all around the world."
The Premier League generates billions of pounds in revenue annually by selling live broadcast rights to its matches, but those sales have to be shared with multiple broadcasters. By launching its own app, the Premier League might be able to cut out the middleman and keep all of the money for itself, and potentially even offer lower prices to viewers. But of course there’s no guarantee it will. It hasn’t yet announced how much a subscription to Premier League+ will cost.
Ultimately, we expect the service to launch in many more countries besides Singapore, perhaps even catering to U.K. viewers one day.
