NBC to stream Premier League football direct to consumers
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 28 June 2017

The pay-TV bundle in the US has taken a heavy challenge, if not a good kicking, with the news that leading broadcaster NBC is taking English Premier League (EPL) football direct to fans without the need of a traditional package.

The direct-to-consumer live streaming product NBC Sports Gold will give football fans in the US exclusive access to 130 live EPL matches plus what is claimed to be the ‘most robust’ offering of Premier League shoulder programming ever available in the country. The latter will include a pre-season rundown of Premier League clubs’ summer activity, Premier League weekend fixture preview and review shows, an end-of-season recap show, plus series such as Netbusters, Premier League World, Classic Match and archive programming – much of which will be available for the first time ever in the United States. In addition, popular NBC and NBCSN Premier League series such as Premier League Download, The Men in Blazers Show, and Behind the Badge.

The Premier League Pass, powered by Playmaker Media, will stream coverage live and on-demand via desktop, mobile, tablets and connected TV devices. Inevitably there will be huge demand to see teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, but NBC guarantees that at least three matches per Premier League club will be available as a live stream. Subscribers can also access replays of most matches, including those not offered on NBC Sports Gold, and a suite of Premier League Productions and NBC Sports original content and studio shows, plus highlight clips.

“We are excited to broaden our offerings for passionate Premier League fans, featuring more content than ever at their fingertips, with approximately 20 weekly hours of live matches, studio shows, highlights and replays,” commented Rick Cordella, EVP and general manager, digital media, NBC Sports Group. “NBC Sports Gold has experienced tremendous growth since its launch last year and we look forward to providing Premier League viewers with this rich content-fuelled experience.”

Despite its enthusiasm and optimism for the new package, NBC assured that it will continue to present its traditional TV offering, featuring up to 250 Premier League matches, including at least one match in each Premier League match time window, across NBC, NBCSN, and CNBC, as well as online on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for mobile, tablets and connected TV devices. There will be no decrease in matches on NBC and NBCSN compared with prior seasons. The key matches such as Merseyside Derby will remain on NBC and NBCSN as they will be televised in single-game windows.