Why it’s time for the Premier League to move into online streaming
The footballing world in the past few years has experienced a huge influx of money into the game, causing inflation in the transfer market. The price of TV rights are continuously increasing, as several media companies specialised in television are trying to desperately hold on into these rights, with the hope of avoiding the possibility of global “giants” Amazon and Facebook acquiring such rights.
The currently TV deal for Premier League football that runs till 2019 is worth around £5.136b, seeing a rise of £2.118b pounds from the previous TV deal. Even though this benefits Premier League clubs financially in the transfer market, there’s a decline when it comes to TV viewership, especially amongst the younger generation. According to a 2017 report conducted by Ofcom, on average, teenagers watched 101 minutes of television everyday, and 16–24 year olds watched 114 minutes everyday, significantly less than the average daily viewing time of 212 minutes. Ofcom in this report also stated that there was a rise in the consumption of YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon, websites known for their on-demand entertainment. People are nowadays able to watch shows online without any advertisements or breaks, a potential factor why people have made the switch between TV and internet.
Who will benefit
- The younger generation
A switch to online streaming would definitely bring a larger audience from the youth. Nowadays, teenagers and young adults prefer Netflix to TV shows and seeing a top quality event being broadcasted on a huge platform will only attract more viewers. Another way for online streaming services to attract young football fans to consume their products is to give a lengthy free trial, similar to how Jio in India won a lot of customers by giving away free data for a long period of time. Even though this is a risky approach, this will attract more viewers and not just bring in young viewers only.
2. Amazon/Facebook
Last year, viewership of the Premier League dropped, which can signify the end of football being broadcasted on TV. The disadvantage of moving to online streaming is the “on-demand.” What makes the Premier League exciting is the fact that it’s the most entertaining league in the world, and unlike TV shows where you can filter out spoilers and can postpone your excitement or agony, watching a football match is all about watching it when it’s live, something that Netflix or Amazon doesn’t really specialise in.
Who will be at a loss
3. Telecommunication companies and TV Broadcasters
Companies like Sky Sports and BT Sports hugely profit from their ability to broadcast Premier League matches. If they lose the TV rights, their viewership will almost certainly go down, as customers would simply move on to Amazon or any other online streaming services that have Premier League TV rights.
4. The older generation
Because the older generation typically spend more time than the younger generation watching TV, and because the older generation don’t consume as much Netflix or Amazon in comparison the younger generation, should the TV rights be acquired by Amazon, there could be a decrease in viewership amongst the older generation.
The transfer market will still experience continuous inflation as money supply continues to increase, and the pricing of Premier League football is not really an issue, as the demand for Premier League football is fairly inelastic, which means that the consumer’s willingness to purchase the ability to watch Premier League football is not really affected by the change in price. What’s most important for the future of the Premier League and perhaps the future of the game is who acquire the rights in the next years, something that’s paramount for the years to come.
Please feel free to read my next article: https://medium.com/football-applied/pep-guardiola-the-artist-of-the-premier-league-e62fbdb72914
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