The Premier League have recently announced plans for a new streaming service and while it is a step in the right direction, it is not a solution.
There have long been rumours about the Premier League launching their own streaming service to broadcast matches.
According to BBC Sport, plans are in place to get this up and running, beginning with what is essentially a trial run in Singapore.
The Premier League will consider whether this is successful and if so, they could attempt to replicate this streaming service all around the world.
Man City fans will still need multiple TV subscriptions
Football fans are required to have far too many subscriptions, with Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Prime Video all needed to watch every televised Man City game during the season in the UK.
This streaming service would fix the divide in having multiple broadcasters show Premier League matches, but what about the other competitions City compete in?
Alternative packages would still be required to watch Pep Guardiola’s team compete in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Therefore, a new streaming service would have some use if the prices are kept at a moderate rate, but it cannot be called a solution to the current problem.
Broadcasters must lower their prices
There has been a significant rise in the number of supporters turning to illegal IPTV packages and it is hard to see this changing when they provide cheaper alternatives to mainstream TV.
Such packages will still be purchased to watch matches from other competitions and this leads to the question – why would these people subscribe to the Premier League streaming service?
After all, they will still be able to access Premier League matches via illegal means, which makes the introduction of a new channel rather pointless.
Ultimately, the real solution is for existing broadcasters to lower their prices so it is affordable to games from all competitions.
