The Premier League is drawing up plans for a dedicated streaming service.
New CEO Richard Masters says the service could start as early as 2022, initially in markets outside the UK, where rights are currently split between Sky, BT and Amazon Prime.
Last week it was announced that NENT had acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland from 2022 to 2028. This suggests that the League may be selective on which markets it runs its own service and where it continues to work with broadcast partners.
It’s understood that at a one point the League was considering a trial in Singapore for 2019-22 before deciding against going ahead.
The new service would include live match coverage and presumably ‘classic matches’ from the League’s 30-year history.
Currently, the League makes around £3 billion a year from its broadcast rights, with £1.665 billion coming from the sale of domestic rights, including the highlights package currently held by the BBC.
The Premier League would be the latest sports body to take its product direct to the consumer. La Liga is already a product for the Spanish league, while a similar venture is currently under consideration in France.
