New research suggests Amazon Prime Video offers the cheapest way to watch live Premier League football. Since the season began, live matches on the platform have cost football fans the equivalent of £1.02 a game.
So how do Sky and BT compare? And what are the cheapest Premier League teams to follow on TV? Let’s take a look. [top_pitch]
Live Premier League football: how many matches are Amazon, Sky and BT showing?
According to Saxo Markets, since the current season started on 13 August, Amazon Prime Video would have shown 39 live games (up to 4 January 2022), compared to BT Sport’s 43 live games, and 125 live games shown by Sky Sports.
These numbers are slightly higher than the actual number of matches broadcast. That’s because a number of games have been postponed in recent weeks due to Covid-19. However, all postponed fixtures will eventually air on their allocated channels.
How do Amazon, Sky and BT compare on cost?
According to Saxo Markets, Amazon Prime Video offers the cheapest way for football fans to watch live Premier League games. The platform has an average monthly cost of £7.99. This means subscribers have so far paid the equivalent of £1.02 a game.
Sky Sports takes second place in the value for money table. Subscribers shelling out the typical £41 monthly cost have paid the equivalent of £1.64 per game.
BT Sport takes last place. Its average £29.99 monthly cost means subscribers have paid a whopping £3.49 a game so far this season.
While this suggests Amazon Prime Video is a clear winner, it’s worth bearing in mind that many of its live matches are typically broadcast at the same time. This contrasts with Sky and BT, whose games are all shown at separate times.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that when the Premier League TV rights for the 2019-2022 season were sold for £4.464 billion, matches were sold in packages. These packages vary by the perceived quality of matches, with Sky and BT grabbing the highest-profile games.
Why is Amazon cheaper than Sky and BT?
Amazon Prime Video is the newest player to live Premier league broadcasting in the UK. By offering the cheapest way to watch Premier League football, Amazon is almost certainly hoping to attract as many football fans as possible to its subscriber base.
Mike Owens, UK trader at Saxo Group, explains, “At a time when inflation is at its highest in 10 years and the cost of attending matches is escalating due to rising fuel prices, fans will continue to look for the best value options when it comes to following their team. Increasingly, it looks like new entrants trying to gain a share of the lucrative market, like Amazon, will compete to offer the best value to boost their subscriber base.”
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Which Premier League teams are the cheapest to follow on TV?
When looking at the halfway point of the season (up to 25 December), Arsenal and Liverpool fans have been able to watch their team for the lowest price. Both of these fan groups, subscribing to all three broadcasters to the tune of £78.98 per month, will have paid the equivalent of £30.38 per match to watch their team.
Meanwhile, fans of Chelsea and Manchester City have paid the equivalent of £32.91 per match.
At the other end of the table, Burnley fans pay the highest costs to watch their team live on TV. That’s because fans of the Clarets have paid the equivalent of £98.73 a match to watch each of Burnley’s four games broadcast on TV so far this season.
Meanwhile, fans of Leicester, Norwich, Watford and Southampton get a similarly raw deal. Fans of these clubs will have paid the equivalent of £65 a match to watch their respective teams in action. This is more than double the amount paid by fans of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City!
What does the future hold for Premier League broadcasting?
The most recent Premier League TV rights sale took place in May 2021. Sky, BT and Amazon won the rights, paying a combined total of £4.8 billion to broadcast games from 2022 to 2025.
Despite this, Saxo Group’s Mike Owens suggests other broadcasters will be keen to screen live Premier League action in future.
He explains, “With demand for live Premier League matches soaring, the multibillion-pound market for live rights looks sure to attract new entrants over time. The subscriber retention and growth value of the English top flight for the likes of DAZN, Netflix and even social media giants like Meta and Twitter means there could also be some new names entering the mix for the festive football fixture lists of the future.”
