The English Premier League (EPL), the top-tier soccer league, has reportedly experienced a decrease in domestic viewing numbers for the 2024-25 season. This news comes just before the start of a new domestic rights cycle for this prestigious league.
According to The Times, at their annual meeting last week, the 20 EPL clubs were informed that Sky Sports' viewing numbers had decreased by 10% last season. TNT Sports also saw a decline of 5% from its viewership figures from the previous year (2023-24).
Interestingly, it was observed that these figures significantly dropped during the last six weeks of the campaign. By this time, Liverpool had almost secured their Premier League title and it was more or less known which three clubs - Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton - would be relegated to second-tier Championship.
Factors influencing decreased viewership
Several factors could have contributed to this decline in viewership. One significant factor is likely to be illegal streaming sites and Amazon fire sticks used by UK soccer fans to watch live games without paying for broadcast services. Sky Sports' Chief Operating Officer suggested that these methods accounted for around half of all illegal streaming incidents related to EPL matches.
Another possible reason could be that both title and relegation battles were decided before entering into final month of season which might have reduced interest among some viewers. Despite these challenges, both Sky and TNT are set to split live rights between them for four years starting from 2025-26 till 2028-29 cycle as part of a new agreement with EPL's domestic broadcast partners.
In total, at least 215 EPL games will be shown on Sky next season - an increase from current figure of 128 games while TNT Sports will continue broadcasting 52 games. However, Amazon Prime Video will not be airing matches during this cycle. The upcoming rights period is the first to span four years instead of three and is worth a staggering £6.7 billion ($9.06 billion), including a highlights rights package from BBC.
EPL viewership in the US
Earlier this month, it was revealed that EPL viewing figures for NBCUniversal, the league's US rights-holder, also experienced a drop in 2024-25 season. Despite holding English and Spanish-language EPL rights through 2027-28 covering all 380 games per season, NBC averaged only 510,000 viewers for EPL games last season - down by 7% year-on-year from average viewing number secured in 2023-24.
However, it's worth noting that despite this slight decrease in viewership numbers, the fourth consecutive season marked an average viewing figure above half a million per game on NBC’s EPL English-language broadcasts - setting a new record for the league in the US.
While there has been an overall decline in viewership numbers both domestically and internationally for Premier League matches during the past year due to various factors such as illegal streaming and early resolution of title battles; broadcasters are gearing up with new strategies for future seasons hoping to attract more sports fans towards live soccer action.
