Sporticos investigates and compares the prices of watching EPL matches in different countries
The team at Sporticos has put together a study called the EPL Index. It compares the price of watching English top flight football in countries around the globe, to find out which fans are getting a good deal and which are paying over the odds.
To determine this, researchers selected an intial 20 countries from all six continents and pit them against each other on the EPL Price Index. The selected nations all had either a rich history of football fandom or a new relevance to the game on the global stage. More and more countries will be continuously added to the index over time.
The team then worked out the absolute cheapest way to watch as many Premier League matches as possible in every territory, comparing live streaming subscription models with traditional pay-TV bundles, factoring in necessary contract lengths, compulsory internet package purchases, and other factors, to break it down into one single cheapest figure which a fan living in a particular country must pay to get access to as many of the 380 Premier League matches available per season as possible.
Those numbers were then converted from various currencies into British pounds and compared against each other. Here are the countries which topped the EPL Price Index.
1. The United Kingdom
It likely won't surprise many readers to learn that the home of the English Premier League is the most expensive place to watch it, at least from the 20 countries on the list, at the time of writing. Despite fans being disallowed from legally watching half of the season's fixtures due to the controversial 3pm blackout, Premier League fans in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland pay much more than many of their counterparts in Europe and further afield.
This is understandable given the popularity of the league in its own country, but just how expensive it is may surprise some. At £605.88 per season, the figure is staggering and well ahead of even the nearest competitors on the list. There are countries in the world not covered by the index which get pretty close to this dismal number, for example the Republic of Ireland and Norway, but when compared to the other nations on the index, it's a hefty sum for UK fans to pay, especially when those other countries often have access to all 380 games per season.
2. The United States
For example, Premier League fans stateside only need to pay a total of $399.99 to get access to every single game. While that is still a huge figure, it is almost half what the Brits pay when converted into British Pounds.
The game is growing in popularity in the US and perhaps this is one explanation for the very large price. With NBC having won the rights to the EPL across the pond, fans must get separate monthly subscriptions to Peacock and Sling TV to guarantee access to as many Premier League matches as possible, and pay a premium doing so.
3. France
It may surprise some to see France so high on this list, but according to the research done by the team at Sporticos, the French are required to pay a fairly hefty price themselves to see Premier League football on the world famous Canal+ network. At €349.90, the best EPL deal in France is by no means cheap.
Some of France's European neighbours, even those with quite superior GDP, can get access to much better EPL deals. This is where the question of the rights holder comes into play. In a country like the Netherlands, arguably richer and more into the Premier League than France, fans can simply sign up for a reasonably priced monthly subscription to a live streaming disruptor like Viaplay. In France, the only way to access the EPL is to sign up to a bloated and expensive bundle from the traditional pay-TV broadcaster which owns the rights, in this case Canal+.
See the full results of our research and some more fascinating insights on our dedicated EPL Price Index landing page.
Also, don't forget to check out our football live streaming page where you can watch live coverage of some of the biggest matches in European football from La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and more.
