The Premier League Index - The Cheapest Country To Watch The EPL

The EPL Price Index is a price comparison tool which tells you how much it costs to watch Premier League football on TV in various countries around the world. We initially hand selected 20 countries with a big vested interest in the beautiful game, either historically or in the modern age. The data below is the result of hours of research. We hope you will find some value in it. Below the chart, we have written a data analysis which points out some of the most interesting insights from the index. This isn't a comprehensive list of every country in the world. We endeavour to add more and more countries all the time. If you want us to add your country, please get in touch using the details below.

It is important to note that this is not a definitive list of all the countries in the world which air coverage of the Premier League, and that there are likely countries in the world where one could pay less or more to watch the EPL than those listed here. It is a list of 20 noteworthy football-loving nations and the prices their citizens must pay to watch the Premier League.

This list provides the annual cost of gaining access to as many Premier League matches as possible in a given market. In some cases, it isn't possible to access every single Premier League match of the season. Ironically, this is the case in the UK, where the 3pm blackout restricts fans from legally watching hundreds of matches per season. However, in the majority of countries, fans can pay to get all 380 matches of the season and choose which ones they want to enjoy each weekend.

The prices displayed in the index also represent the absolute cheapest possible approach to getting the most games. In the case of some rights holders, a monthly subscription to a single live streaming platform is the cheapest way. In others, a fan must pay for as many as three different broadcasters to cover all of the different matches available. Fans living in countries where the rights space is dominated by big pay-TV broadcasters like Sky, beIN and Canal+ tend to get a rough deal, while those fortunate enough to live in places where the rights are owned by streamers like Viaplay, Star+ and other monthly subscription, OTT only platforms usually enjoy much more competitive prices.

Some broadcasters, which hold exclusive rights to the Premier League, require the consumer to sign a 12 month or 24 month contract to sign up, while others - especially streamers - can often be cancelled anytime, meaning a fan only needs to pay for the 10 month Premier League season and then cancel their membership during the summer off-season to save money.

Some of the prices listed here are astronomically lower than others. It is important to take into account the average salary of people living in those places, and the availability of internet access and TV subscriptions. This index is purely designed to lay out the differences in price for comparison purposes. It does not suggest that watching Premier League football is necessarily easier from country to country. That would depend on the individual circumstances of the fan.

After determining the absolute cheapest route to take, involving the fewest subscriptions possible, to gain access to the maximum number of games possible in all 20 countries, our team did the calculations to come up with a per-season figure for watching the Premier League in each place. Prices are listed in their original currencies and those prices are then automatically converted into GBP (British Pounds) for comparison purposes, taking into account currency exchange rates, which are updated daily.

Here's what we found.

It will likely cause no surprise but much consternation among British football fans to learn that the UK is the most expensive place to access every available Premier League match of the season, which due to the 3pm blackout is not even every match played. To do so in the absolute cheapest way possible, a fan must get a NOW monthly sports pass to access the Sky Sports matches at a lower price, a BT Sport monthly pass and also Amazon Prime Video, for the two months of the year in which they air Premier League matches. When the three subscriptions are added together, it's a huge cost, but there are currently no other deals which bring the three together at a cheaper price. Those few who have not yet used their Amazon free trial can shave off a little this way. However, regardless of whether a person is or isn't eligible for a free Amazon Prime trial, the annual cost of watching as many Premier League matches as possible in the UK is simply staggering. The alternative to the two monthly passes would be to sign up to an expensive bundle including internet, and that would cost more than getting the three separate subscriptions. Ironically, British fans pay almost double what American fans do to get access to less than half the matches.

Unsurprisingly, the next most expensive countries on the index are the United States and France, where salaries are higher and football is either rapidly growing in popularity (in the case of the US) or has been a staple of life for generations.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is nowhere cheaper to watch the Premier League than in India. The cost of following an entire season of EPL football in India is around £10 or around 95% less than it is in the United Kingdom. These numbers can fluctuate depending on exchange rates but generally India is a very good place to watch the EPL price wise.

Other countries where salaries are typically lower on average, like Nigeria and South Africa, are not always blessed with the same low prices, with some surprisingly costly options available.

There are some rather shocking bargains out there. For access to the Premier League in the football-mad Netherlands, an extremely wealthy country, to cost around 80% less than in the UK, give or take a few percentiles depending on the exchange rate on any given day, definitely left surprised our analysts. Of course, the Premier League is not the Dutch domestic league and not everyone will be automatically interested in it, but that price with Viaplay is very, very reasonable, and actually almost three times less than what the neighbouring French have to fork out to catch every game on Canal+. Another example of a standalone OTT platform providing value for money.

Canada and Australia also have surprisingly cheap offers for their Premier League fans. The game, and the league, is still developing in popularity in these markets, hence the relatively low prices, but these figures are still very, very encouraging for football fans in The Great White North or Down Under.

The EPL Price Index is full of fascinating nuances and stories which might surprise you. If you found this interesting, check out our La Liga Price Index and Bundesliga Price Index