TV sports packages cost the same whether you support high-flyers like Liverpool and Manchester City, or teams down the table that usually attract less coverage. Fans of the big clubs will see more than 40 games in the season. Others will only see a dozen or so.
It will cost at least £420 to watch all televised matches across Sky Sports, BT Sports and Amazon Prime.
The cheapest subscription package to watch all Sky and BT games is £41 per month, while Amazon Prime Video’s only streaming service is £8.99 per month. This means fans wanting access to every televised game during the season will have to pay £427.98 from August to May.
In return, fans of Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City can expect their teams to play in 41 games, including European fixtures, costing £10.44 per game.
They are set to receive the most televised matches in the Premier League, with an average of 11 more games to be shown, and will also feature in European competitions such as the Champions League.
Manchester United fans are likely to watch 38 games, with the average cost being £11.26.
Yet fans of Southampton, Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest can expect to see their teams 12 times for only £35.67 per game.
That’s more than three times as many fans as Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City.
To help delineate the cost of being a sports fan, comparison site Uswitch has created a football subs index.
This shows the expected number of TV appearances for each top-flight team in 2022–23, to show which club’s supporters will get the most matches for their money.
Katherine Healy, TV and streaming expert at YouSwitch, says: “We wanted to show people what it really costs to be a pro, and how to find the best value ways to watch.”
The average cost to follow the Premier League through the season using Sky, BT and Amazon is £21.93 per game.
Historically, clubs that have just come from the championship are selected for fewer TV fixtures than established teams and title contenders in the Premier League.
This means that his supporters pay more per match to see him in action. Last season’s newcomers, Watford, Norwich and Brentford, all finished well in the table for the number of broadcast games.
Arsenal are expected to have combined the most number of TV shows this season. The north London club, which broadcast 29 games in last year’s Premier League, is one of the Europa League favourites.
This will guarantee them at least six additional live fixtures, and double that if they make the finals.
Read more: Arsenal All or Nothing series: UK release, free stream, how to watch
A quarter of Brits who subscribe to football channels believe they are the most important part of their pay-TV deal, but one in seven is considering cancellation because the cost is too high.
Haley said fans can save money by choosing the matches that interest them most and take advantage of special offers, as the Premier League releases monthly TV fixtures in batches. “Amazon Prime Video is showing a week of Premier League fixtures in October and December, so you’re guaranteed to subscribe to your team twice.”
New customers can also cut their cost in half by taking out a free trial in October. “Just remember to cancel before November, when the league takes a winter break for the World Cup in Qatar,” Healy says.
Champions League fans only need a BT Sport subscription. “But if you only follow the Premier League, Sky shows the most live games and also offers free match highlights for all fixtures online.”
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For teams that rarely feature, fans can save by using a Now TV and BT app subscription, Haley said.
“If your team is near the bottom of our football subscription index, using Now TV and BT Pass can let you swoop in on cut-price deals mid-season.”
He added: “It also means that you can cancel as soon as the final whistle blows in May, if your club’s stay in the Premier League is brief.”
Around 6.5 million Brits have a sports package, accounting for 45 percent of total pay-TV subscribers, while 1.6 million households have signed up for both Sky Sports and BT Sports.
This season 128 of the 380 Premier League matches will take place on Sky Sports, while 52 will be shown on BT Sport, which also has exclusive rights to show the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video will stream 20 Premier League games split between October and December.
UK sports channels cannot show all league fixtures due to the blackout rule, which restricts the broadcast of games to 3 pm on Saturdays in order to protect match attendance.