SINGAPORE – Football fans in Singapore will no longer be able to watch English Premier League (EPL) matches on Eleven Sports Network (ESN) next season.

This is because the global sports network, which was founded in 2015, has decided to call time on its multi-year agreement with local telco Singtel to screen the EPL in Singapore, just one year after the deal was struck.

The deal saw Singtel sub-licensing part of their exclusive broadcasting rights for the EPL, which they have held since the 2010/11 season, to ESN.

This allowed ESN to screen three live matches and three delayed telecasts every week on their website and mobile application.

A new television channel on Singtel TV, the Eleven Plus Channel, was also set up to screen live EPL matches and related content. This channel will be removed with the termination of the deal.

ESN’s EPL coverage cost S$19.90 a month for customers who took on a one-year contract. Those who opted to sign up without a contract paid S$24.90 a month.

In contrast, Singtel’s mio Stadium+ package offered live screenings of all EPL matches – as well as access to the Eleven Plus Channel – for S$64.90 per month

When contacted, an ESN spokesperson said they were “unable to comment for now.”

Singtel also did not to respond to TODAY’s queries by press time.

This development is set to affect Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Mediacorp’s Toggle, M1, StarHub and ViewQuest who had bought and resold ESN’s EPL coverage.

A Toggle spokesman told TODAY: “If any of our packages changes materially from what was offered at the time of the customer signing up, Toggle will present satisfactory alternatives to the customer to ensure they continue to enjoy our extensive range of offerings.”

M1’s Assistant General Manager of Corporate Communications Chua Hian Hou said the telco is “clarifying with ESN the changes they are making to their content offerings”.

He added: “Our priority is our customers’ interests and we will update them when the details are finalised.”

StarHub, which purchased the EPL matches from ESN for StarHub Go, a streaming service for mobiles, tablets and laptops, said in response to queries from TODAY: “We are currently in discussions with ESN on its carriage of Premier League content and will update our StarHub Go customers as soon as we can.

“We are unable to comment further due to confidentiality obligations.”

Vignesa Moorthy, who is the chief executive officer of ViewQwest, revealed that the company had stopped selling content from ESN.

He added: “We are still working out with ESN on how to resolve this matter, but our top priority will be to ensure that our customers will be treated fairly and equitably.

“If it is indeed true that SingTel has ended its licensing deal with ESN, it is a sad day for football fans in Singapore who will now have less choice.”

While ESN will no longer screen EPL matches, they will continue to feature other sports content including matches from the Italian Serie A, the English FA Cup, the NBA, as well as the European and South American Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

But an ESN employee who declined to be named admitted that there were concerns that the removal of EPL coverage could affect the company’s long-term sustainability in Singapore.

“The EPL is the biggest league in the world and it obviously has a very strong following here in Singapore,” the employee said.

“Our network has also marketed ourselves strongly over the past year on our screening of EPL matches, so it is still a huge unknown how the termination of this deal will affect the company in the long-run.

“Will ESN be able to survive on just screening matches from the Serie A, FA Cup and other international football competitions? It’s hard to tell, but looking at the general (sporting) tastes of Singaporeans, I’m not confident.”

CIMB economist Song Seng Wun believes the availability of alternative options for Singaporeans to watch EPL games could have played a part in ESN’s decision to pull out of their deal with Singtel.

“The bottom line (for ESN) is down to how many subscribers they can attract to their platforms, and whether they can sustain it,” said the veteran analyst.

“Perhaps it came to a point in ESN’s subscription rate where it didn’t make commercial sense for them to continue on with the deal.

“The reality is, because of the advancement of technology, people have many alternative platforms to watch live EPL games. The whole landscape as far as paying to watch football on television and online has changed, much like how it has for the movie and broadcasting industries.

“This also shows is that there is a price point which Singaporeans are willing to pay to watch football, and perhaps that point has been reached. After all, there are now so many other sporting events and forms of entertainment that people can busy themselves with.

“So what this means for Singtel is that they cannot continue to bid so high for the broadcasting rights to the EPL in future, while similarly, the EPL cannot continue to demand more money from the bid. “Yes, Singaporeans want to watch football and the EPL, but it doesn’t mean that we want it at any cost.”