Ch-ch-changes: Liverpool's Darwin Nunez contends for an aerial ball with Manchester City's Erling Haaland of Manchester City during The FA Community Shield on July 30. Photo / Getty Images
Ch-ch-changes: Liverpool's Darwin Nunez contends for an aerial ball with Manchester City's Erling Haaland of Manchester City during The FA Community Shield on July 30. Photo / Getty Images
The body behind the world's most-watched sports competition still harbours ambitions for a global streaming service dubbed "Premflix" and its CEO has revealed new, six-year broadcasting deals have special clauses for a direct-to-consumer app.
The saga began in 2019, when the English Premier League (EPL) - which shoots its ownmatches then prepares them for production via Premier League Productions - looked to use Singapore as a test market for an in-house streaming service, only to be pressured by clubs to renew a traditional broadcasting deal.
Then in February 2020, new EPL chief executive Richard Masters said "Premflix" would be trialled in "early 2022" - but just a month later his organisation battened down the hatches for Covid.
Now, in an interview published by The Athletic (now part of the New York Times Group), Masters has spilt the beans. Plans for a streaming service are still very much alive.
On the face of things, the opposite looked true in February as the EPL inked a swathe of new deals - including the switch of New Zealand rights, that had sat with Spark for the past three seasons, back to Sky TV under a six-year contract.
But in some territories, there was cunning fine print.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters hangs a winners medal around the neck of Manchester City player Phil Foden on May 22. Photo / Getty Images
"We have sold all of our international rights to third parties. In other words, we've licensed them as opposed to going direct to the consumer," admitted Masters.
"However, we do have - and I can't reveal where in the world - options to do various things.
"We've probably signed more long-term partnerships than usual - six-year agreements instead of three-year agreements - and there are options in some of those agreements to go direct-to-consumer in the name of the Premier League."
When asked for more details by The Athletic, Masters laughed and said he regretted talking about it now but "in a very small number of deals, it's possible for us to do certain things".
The Athletic's Matt Slater wrapped up by dropping a heavy hint about some of the countries the EPL chief had earmarked for future streaming.
"If you live on an island where your Premier League provider has agreed a six-year rights deal with Masters' sales team, well, you have a chance of being offered, at some point before 2028, the chance to pay the league directly for the right to stream games," Slater wrote.
"Australia, New Zealand, Singapore... we're looking at you."
Sky could make hay from global streaming trend
While Slater may be looking, Sky this morning reiterated to the Herald that its new six-year deal with the EPL is exclusive.
But it's clear which way Masters is thinking for future deals, given other sports' success with global, direct-to-consumer apps (and, on the entertainment side, the likes of Disney+).
The latest is the just launched mobile-only NFL+, which offers American Football games streamed live to every country bar the UK and Ireland, albeit at some robust pricing.
For a fully-featured NFL Gamepass, you'll be on the hook for US$204 ($320) per year.
Tottenham's Cristian Romero comments to Harry Maguire following the Manchester United captain's own-goal during the teams' clash at Old Trafford on March 12. Photo / Getty Images)
While Sky TV's EPL deal could, down the track, face "Premflix" competition, in the short term the pay-TV broadcaster is poised to make hay from the trend towards globalised streaming.
In a July 19 filing to the NZX, Sky acknowledged "advanced talks" with World Rugby and said: "The discussions include potential changes for RugbyPass, which would support World Rugby's strategy to engage fans and grow the global game."
Sky bought RugbyPass, a global service that streamed rugby to expat fans in territories outside the main rugby-playing countries - for US$40 million (now $63.7m) in 2019.
But it later wrote off almost all of the value and turned it into a news-only site after Covid decimated fixtures.
Now, there are market rumours RugbyPass will get a new lease of life, repositioned as a global streaming service for World Rugby - or even sold to World Rugby.
Either plan will appeal to the All Blacks' new part-owner, US venture capital firm Silver Lake - which has already said it wants to use new media to raise the All Blacks' profile and brand value worldwide.
US venture capital firm Silverlake's buy-in to NZ Rugby came with plans to use new media to raise the All Blacks' profile and brand value worldwide.
