Premier League launches new streaming service that could stop people using dodgy Fire Sticks

The Premier League is at last launching a streaming service which is going to have every single match available to watch, as long as you're in Singapore.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters was speaking at the FT Business of Football Summit event where he announce the league was launching a 'direct-to-consumer service' in partnership with Singapore company StarHub for a six-year agreement.

He said: "For the first time the Premier League is going to have its own customers.

"This is a new app you can download and have on your smart TVs, your laptops, and watch 380 matches and loads of shoulder content, 24/7 channel service and it's going to be an exciting product.

"We're also looking to learn, to see how that might be replicated all around the world."

From next season the Premier League will have its own streaming service in Singapore (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The new streaming service

It's going to be called Premier League + and will be available both to existing StarHub customers and others who want a separate subscription to the new app.

More details are yet to come but a new streaming service where every Premier League game will be available is one of the golden tickets of sports broadcasting.

Masters said: "We are going to be having our own customers. I think that's the big change. And that means us delving into things like promotion and distribution and pricing and all those sorts of things."

He also said it was 'about learning as well as building a business', so perhaps there'll be some teething problems early on but it sounds like a dream for Premier League fans.

Unfortunately for most Brits that dream currently involves watching on a dodgy Fire Stick which comes with a plethora of problems that can land you in serious legal trouble, as you might expect from getting involved in illegal streaming.

Also the government is warning it might expose your kids to 'explicit or age inappropriate content', while much of the public is backing illegal streaming as fans think it's 'socially acceptable' to watch illegally given rising costs.

The current deal with UK broadcasters lasts until 2029, so don't expect anything like that over here before then (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

Could Brits one day watch it?

Maybe, but we'll have to see how it turns out.

In his announcement Masters said 'if it goes well, it may be replicated', but insisted he didn't 'want to predict further than that', so let's not get too carried away about what it could all mean for viewers in the UK.

Current rights to stream some but not all of the Premier League games still lie with the big boys in the UK market, and they're Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

They're on a deal worth £6.7 billion which runs until the end of the 2028/29 season and show up to 270 games a season, so unlike the Premier League + package Singapore is getting they still have to steer well clear of the 3pm Saturday blackout.

It's all hypothetical at this stage outside Singapore, but the idea that all Premier League games could be available for streaming in one place would be very appealing to the UK market when the current deal expires.

Would people still use illegal streaming knowing they might get in trouble if there was a much easier way to watch the Premier League? (Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images)

Could it really help tackle illegal streaming?

For those who want to watch legally and not miss anything in the Premier League it would require multiple subscriptions and is essentially impossible because of the blackout.

The current deal shows up to 270 games a season, the Singapore streaming deal is offering all 380.

If there was a UK version of that it might persuade viewers to put the dodgy Fire Sticks away.

The blackout exists to protect lower league attendance as there's a concern lots of match going fans would stay home if the Premier League was on TV at 3pm, but crackdowns on illegal streaming have shown there's an audience for it in the UK.

People have ended up arrested for illegally streaming the Premier League, but if the league itself can offer a convenient and cost-effective version that might turn things around.

Tech expert James Bore previously told LADbible how legal streaming used to put a massive dent in illegal activity.

He said: "The solution to massively reduce illegal downloading was convenient streaming services, which centralized a whole load of content and gave you it under one easy subscription. Now they've fragmented. That's gone away."

If the Premier League can crack a streaming service where all their games are available in one place that could blow a huge hole in the illegal streaming market.