THIS WEEK SEES the broadcast of the Premier League arrive at a new frontier, as games are streamed live on Amazon Prime for the first time.
Amazon have the rights to every single one of this midweek’s round of fixtures in the UK, along with the rights to the festive fixtures from 26-28 December.
The arrival of the streaming service means that from tonight, all games from a round of Premier League matches will be broadcast live for the first time on UK television.
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth and Burnley’s clash with Man City will be shown live this evening, while there are a further six games slated for Wednesday – including Jose Mourinho’s return to Man United and the Merseyside derby – and two more on Thursday.
They are kicking off at staggered times of 7.30pm and 8.15pm.
Although you’ll likely have taken notice of Amazon’s marketing of the games, it’s important to note that the games are not available to Amazon Prime customers in Ireland.
The Irish rights have instead been bought by satellite broadcaster Premier Sports, who also have the Irish rights to the 3pm Saturday kick-offs (not shown in the UK under enduring blackout rules) along with games from La Liga and Serie A.
While Sky Sports and BT Sport have made it their custom to purchase the UK and Irish rights to Premier League games, Amazon went solely for the UK rights and thus left the Irish option open to Premier.
Like Amazon, however, Premier are showing all 10 games from this round of fixtures. Games will be shown live across their two channels – Premier Sports 1 & 2 – with additional games available via the red button on your remote.
Premier are reuniting a few old pals for the occasion: Liam Brady, John Giles and Eamon Dunphy will sit on a television panel together for the first time in three-and-a-half years for tonight’s clash between Burnley and Man City. They will be joined by anchor Ivan Yeats.
Second Captains’ Eoin McDevitt will host coverage of Palace/Bournemouth on the other channel, along with guests Kenny Cunningham and Chris Sutton. This trio will front coverage of United/Spurs on Wednesday night while the three amigos are arguing around the Merseyside Derby.
Premier will also show all 10 games around St Stephen’s Day, the highlight being Liverpool’s trip to Leicester.
Premier Sports is available to Sky TV customers through the ‘Sports Extra‘ pack, and can also be bought via Now TV.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Amazon Prime on the scene in the UK is a pretty radical departure and a potentially defining moment for the Premier League’s future, given the competition has lived on satellite television in the UK from its inception in 1992 up to this season.
With the number of people subscribing to traditional satellite packages declining sharply, embracing streaming platforms may be necessary for the Premier League to maintain its enormous broadcast income, which has recently plateaued, dropping from £5.14 billion to £4.64 million.
With viewing habits firmly migrating to streaming platforms, the success or otherwise of the Amazon experiment may offer some pointers as to whether the Premier League can maintain its remarkable financial strength.
Amid such change, it should be noted that some things remain the same: the best of the action will be shown on Match of the Day on BBC One NI from 10.45pm on Wednesday.
Premier League fixtures on Premier Sports
Tuesday 3 December
Crystal Palace v Bournemouth, Premier Sports 2 (KO 7.30pm)
Burnley v Man City, Premier Sports 1 (KO 8.15pm)
Wednesday 4 December
Leicester v Watford, Red Button (KO 7.30pm)
Wolves v West Ham, Red Button (KO 7.30pm)
Man United v Spurs, Premier Sports 2 (KO 7.30pm)
Chelsea v Aston Villa, Red Button (KO 7.30pm)
Southampton v Norwich, Red Button (KO 7.30pm)
Liverpool v Everton, Premier Sports 1 (KO 8.15pm)
Thursday 5 December
Sheffield United v Newcastle, Premier Sports 2 (KO 7.30pm)
Arsenal v Brighton, Premier Sports 1 (KO 8.15pm)
