The long-speculated Premier League streaming service is no longer a dream, it is becoming a realisation as CEO Richard Masters confirmed a direct-to-consumer service is coming to Singapore.
The Premier League will launch its first direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service in Singapore later this year.
Richard Masters, Premier League CEO, confirmed the service launch during a speech at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London on 26 February. He said the league will partner with Singapore broadcaster StarHub as part of the venture.
Masters revealed the streaming service will be built upon an app which can be downloaded onto TVs and other devices, showcasing all 380 fixtures as well as additional in-house content.
The DTC service, branded as ‘Premier League +’, is set to launch in Singapore for the 2026/27 season and is part of a six-year agreement with StarHub.
“We’ve created a direct-to-consumer service”, said Masters. “From next season onwards, from August, ‘Premier League +’, rather than ‘Premflix’ – we’ve branded it finally – it’s going to happen.”
StarHub is currently in the middle of a five-year broadcast rights deal with the Premier League which was set to expire at the end of the 2027/28 season. It is yet to be confirmed whether the pre-existing deal is still in effect.
As of August 2025, StarHub confirmed it has up to 2.19 million mobile subscribers and 568,000 fixed broadband subscribers.
Premier League +: A long time coming?
Talk of the highly-anticipated streaming service has been touted as early as 2020. The league could be angling for a phased rollout, starting in Singapore, before it could potentially expand to other countries.
“We’re also looking to learn to see how that might be replicated around the world,” added Masters. “Will it be replicable elsewhere? That’s what we’re going to find out.”
The Premier League’s growth in the last decade has seen its broadcast rights valuations skyrocket, meaning it has relied on the security of hard revenue from broadcasters, while also allowing them to handle marketing and customer costs.
The English top-flight league generated upwards of £3.37bn last season in broadcast revenue, £1.6bn from its domestic broadcast deal, and £1.8bn from its various international broadcast deals, with £2.83bn distributed amongst the clubs.
However, fans, particularly in the UK, have been increasingly more critical of the rise in costs it takes to watch football in the region, fragmented into paying at times up to three different monthly subscriptions.
Despite the Premier League aiming to reduce the fragmentation by dropping Amazon Prime Video in its latest domestic rights deal, the rise in costs has pushed fans into piracy. The rise in ‘dodgy’ Amazon Firesticks has increased and become a cost-effective alternative, despite being illegal.
Following a similar model to Netflix, where a standard monthly subscription lies between £10-£20, a Premier League DTC streaming service has been viewed as a means for the league to reduce piracy and afford fans a cost effective way to watch the league.
What is at stake with Premier League + ?
While the Singapore launch could be viewed as nothing more than a season trial, if an overwhelming success, Premier League + could become one of the largest streaming services in the world.
The Premier League is broadcast to 189 countries, watched in 900 million homes, and has an estimated 1.87 billion global fans, according to winsportsonline.
For the league to earn its 2024/25 domestic broadcast revenue of £3.37bn, and every monthly subscription priced at £10 – for example – Premier League + would need at least 31.416 million paying subscribers per month.
Broadcast revenue directly from a subscription service relies upon the retention of paying subscribers, which removes the security of receiving hard revenue from broadcasters.
This is an approach Ligue 1 has already deployed in France with the launch of Ligue 1+ this season. Despite already amassing over one million subscribers, French clubs such as Angers, are concerned broadcast revenues will be significantly lower than in previous seasons.
The Premier League will also have to invest in in-house studios across the globe. The league dropped IMG in favour of building out its in-house production studios for international broadcast production, starting in the 2026/27 season when Premier League + will be launching in Singapore.
A DTC model will also mean cutting out third party broadcasters such as Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the UK. While both UK broadcasters have Premier League rights until the end of the 2028/29 season and could renegotiate sublicensing deals, the value of the Premier League is significant for Sky Sports and TNT Sports and could impact their long-term subscribers.
