Singapore Premier League to stream all matches online after successful trial
The Singapore Premier League (SPL) will stream all 126 of its matches online live for its 2019 season.
SPL trialed streaming in 2018 and claims it received a total of 1.17 million views. Photo: SPL.
Singapore’s professional football league trialed streaming in 2018 and claims it received a total of 1.17 million views for the 98 matches that were streamed.
The figures have led to the Football Association of Singapore, the governing body of the SPL, deciding to expand the SPL’s online live coverage this year.
According to Yahoo, FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari said live streaming a cheaper option than TV broadcasts and that people preferred to watch the live matches on mobile devices.
“We are planning enhancements to the viewing experience with additional previews and half-time shows, as compared to just straightforward live-streaming last season,” he said.
Streaming is part of FAS’s plan to revive the sluggish fortunes of the SPL, which has seen attendance at live games drop over the years. It rebranded the SPL last year with a focus on youth development for all local clubs, with a new name and a new logo for the league.
FAS claimed the changes have seen a slight improvement in attendances from 900 in 2017 to about 1,800 in 2018.
This year, in addition to streaming, it hopes to continue to improve fan experiences by consolidating the stadiums of all eight Singapore-based SPL clubs, with two teams sharing four stadiums for the first time in the league history.
The shared stadiums will be upgraded sound systems, individual seats for all spectators, and bigger Jumbotrons and LED billboards all around the venues.
Twitter and football news website Goal recently collaborated to broadcast the UEFA Champions League (UCL) to select Twitter users in South East Asia.
Four key UCL Round of 16 matches including Liverpool vs Bayern Munich on February 20 and Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester United on March 7 will be streamed live via Goal Thailand Twitter account to Twitter users in Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos.
This is part of the social media platform's attempt to cement its position as live sports content provider in Asia, as it previously told The Drum.