Premier League will move to an OTT service eventually, admits Richard Masters
Premier League CEO Richard Masters has confirmed that eventually, the league will move to a Netflix like streaming service. At the moment it is being directly broadcasted via a variety of services from Sky Sports, Star Sports to even Amazon Prime but the new method could benefit both fans and clubs.
After the success that Amazon Prime had during the December period of the league, reports indicated that the Premier League was looking at creating their own ‘Over The Top’ service. It would cut out traditional broadcasters completely and instead stream direct to consumers, saving the fans a lot of money but at the same time earning more money for the clubs and the league itself.
But despite the reports of such a service since fading away, Premier League CEO Richard Masters has confirmed that the league will eventually shift to such a service. Masters also added that trials of a new OTT service could start as early as 2022 in select markets outside England with many touting Singapore as a potential destination.
“During the last rights bidding process for the 2019-22 seasons we spent quite a lot of time and invested a lot of resources in building our expertise and capacity in 'direct-to-consumer'. We considered whether strategically it would be the right time to test a few markets then and decided not to. We were ready last time and we will be ready next time should the opportunity arise. Eventually, the Premier League will move to a mix of direct-to-consumer and media rights sales,” said Masters reported the Daily Mail.
Starting something as monumental as a Netflix like streaming service will be a large risk with the League’s current way of selling rights allowing the broadcasters to take on all the hard work. It will cause a lot more problems for the League but Masters went on to admit that while there is a risk associated with the venture, the Premier League is more than ready to take on the challenge.
“There is risk associated with it. The Premier League has been successful by seeking partnerships with established broadcasters and having secure funding as its model, as opposed to direct consumer revenue, which is an entirely different strategy. The transition from one to the other if and when it ever happens would be a big moment,” Masters added.
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