NBC announces Premier League Pass

NBC Sports has announced a brand-new digital streaming subscription service that will allow soccer fans to be able to watch Premier League games without requiring a cable or satellite subscription.

The new service, Premier League Pass, will launch in time for the 2017/18 Premier League season.

Premier League Pass, priced at $49.99 per season, will allow soccer fans to watch all of the Premier League games that are not shown on television. So on a typical Premier League weekend, subscribers will be able to watch three games that are available exclusively via the new service.

Previously, those three EPL games per weekend (typically the 10am-Noon ET games that were not on NBCSN, CNBC or USA) were shown exclusively via Premier League Extra Time (on TV) and NBC Sports App (via streaming with authentication). With the launch of Premier League Pass digital service, it means the end of the Premier League Extra Time channels that were available by many TV providers as extra channels on DIRECTV, DISH, Time Warner and others. It also means that those three games will no longer be available via the NBC Sports App.

NBC Sports Group will continue to present its traditional TV offering, featuring up to 250 Premier League matches, including at least one match in each Premier League match time window, across NBC, NBCSN, and CNBC, as well as online on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App for mobile, tablets and connected TV devices. There will be no decrease in matches on NBC and NBCSN compared to prior seasons. Matches such as the Manchester Derby, North London Derby, and Merseyside Derby will remain on NBC and NBCSN as they will be televised in single-game windows.

It’s important to note that each Premier League club will have at least three matches available exclusively via the Premier League Pass service.

Premier League Pass is part of NBC Sports Gold, which is NBC Sports Digital’s direct-to-consumer live streaming product. Currently, NBC Sports Gold has similar paid subscription passes available for rugby, cycling, motocross and track-and-field.

In addition to the three games (on average) per week during the Premier League season, Premier League Pass will also feature full access to highlights and match replays. The match replays will be the 130 games available via Premier League Pass each season as well as “some” matches not offered on Premier League Pass.

SEE MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

Premier League Pass will also include exclusive content from Premier League Productions, which includes a preseason rundown of Premier League clubs’ summer activity, Premier League weekend fixture preview and review shows, an end-of-season recap show, plus series such as Netbusters, Premier League World, Classic Match and archive programming – much of which will be available for the first time ever in the United States. In addition, NBC and NBCSN Premier League series such as Premier League Download, The Men in Blazers Show, and Behind the Badge will be available on Premier League Pass.

Premier League Pass will stream coverage live and on-demand via Apple iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and online at NBCSportsGold.com.

Soccer fans can register their interest in Premier League Pass at NBCSportsGold.com.

The announcement about Premier League Pass will have big ramifications for many soccer fans in the United States.

MORE COVERAGE:

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• Premier League Pass marks a giant step backward for NBC’s coverage of EPL

• NBC Sports announces Premier League Pass, a new digital streaming subscription service

• Premier League Pass FAQ

• NBC Sports: Premier League Pass needs to feature all 380 games to be relevant

• NBC’s Premier League Pass will hurt growth of EPL in USA: World Soccer Talk Podcast