Football fans are shelling out almost 60% more to watch the most popular tournaments and leagues than they did five years ago. This increase is due to the rise in the number of broadcasters and streaming services required to follow these games, which has jumped from four to 10 over the last decade.
A decade ago, football enthusiasts only needed a subscription to Sky and its sports package, BT Sport, along with free-to-air channels ITV and BBC. These platforms provided access to top competitions like the Premier League, English Football League, FA Cup, Champions League as well as popular European competitions such as Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga plus MLS in the US.
However, rights for many of these competitions have fragmented over time due in part to the streaming revolution. As a result, football fans now need eight subscription services alongside BBC and ITV if they wish to continue watching all their favourite tournaments. New entrants into this market include pay-TV broadcaster Premier Sports along with streaming services DAZN, Amazon’s Prime Video, AppleTV+, and OneFootball aggregator service while France's Ligue 1 has launched its own direct subscription service.
Financial impact on fans
Research conducted by analytics firm Ampere Analysis revealed that between 2019-20 and 2024-25 seasons there was a significant price hike for subscribing all necessary platforms. It increased by an astounding 57%, rising from £89.23 per month up to £140.21 per month.
Danni Moore, Senior analyst at Ampere, said:
“Fragmentation of club football TV offering has reached a peak in the UK, with all the major [non-UK] leagues now available on different platforms in the UK it follows that the price of watching multiple leagues is increasing for fans.”
Interestingly though only about 1% of football fans were willing enough or could afford all subscriptions required for keeping up with all fifteen competitions.The majority (over two-thirds) were content getting their football fix through just three major rights-buyers: Sky, TNT Sports – which houses former BT Sport content run by Warner Bros Discovery –and Amazon Prime Video. These three platforms hold the rights to most popular competitions on pay-TV, including Premier League, English Football League, Champions League and FA Cup.
For these fans who are content with only subscribing to the three main pay-TV providers, prices have not risen as dramatically. Ampere estimates that the total monthly cost has increased by 14% over the last five years to £91.99.
Shift towards streaming services
In an attempt to retain football fans who may be hesitant about long-term pay-TV subscriptions due to rising costs, Sky and TNT Sports have started offering games over streaming-only platforms Now TV and Discovery+ at a cheaper rate. Ampere's research found that customers who watched football using only streaming options offered by Sky TNT and Amazon managed to limit their monthly payment increase to just 5% over the last five years.
Superfans wishing to watch all 15 tournaments solely on streaming services paid £111.20 per month – almost £30 less than if signing up for traditional pay-TV – although this had also increased by 52% in the last five years due to more services needed for accessing all games. Accordingly, a quarter of fans now say they prefer watching live sport exclusively on streaming services according to Ampere's findings.
Live sport has become increasingly crucial in keeping customers subscribed to pay-TV as households assess their spending amidst rising living costs. In fact, Ampere’s survey found that access sports was what kept 38% of UK football fans from cancelling their cable or satellite TV subscription. While there is no denying that watching football has become more expensive over time due largely part fragmentation broadcasting rights proliferation new players market it clear some viewers are finding ways navigate this landscape without breaking bank opting for cheaper alternatives like streaming-only subscriptions.
