Singapore Premier League to live-stream all 126 matches this season
As Singapore’s professional football league begins its 24th season on 2 March, it will be live-streaming all 126 of its matches online for the first time ever.
The move was announced by Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Yazeen Buhari as he laid out the Singapore Premier League’s (SPL) targets and objectives on Tuesday (19 February), ahead of the new season’s curtain-raiser, the Community Shield, at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday.
When the live-streaming of SPL matches was introduced last season, it garnered a total of 1.17 million views for 98 matches that were streamed online. This has given the FAS confidence to expand the SPL’s online live coverage this coming season.
“Apart for it being a cheaper option than TV broadcasts, statistics have also shown that people prefer to watch the live matches on mobile devices,” Yazeen told Yahoo News Singapore. “We are planning enhancements to the viewing experience with additional previews and half-time shows, as compared to just straightforward live-streaming last season.”
Average attendance doubled from 2017 to 2018
A better viewing experience at lower operating costs – this is the ongoing objective of the SPL since it was rebranded from the S-League in 2018. In its first season, the SPL enjoyed a spike in crowd figures – from a paltry average attendance of 900 in 2017 to about 1,800 last year.
The upcoming season will see some dramatic changes in a bid to enhance the viewing experience for paying fans, with the eight Singapore-based SPL clubs sharing four stadiums for the first time in league history. Brunei DPMM will continue to use their home ground in Bandar Seri Begawan.
The four stadiums are: Jalan Besar Stadium (for Young Lions and Hougang United), Bishan Stadium (for Home United and Balestier Khalsa), Jurong East Stadium (for Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and Warriors FC) and Our Tampines Hub (for Tampines Rovers and Geylang International).
With fewer stadiums, FAS is able to focus on improving the crowd experience at the four stadiums, where there would be upgraded sound systems, individual seats for all spectators, and bigger Jumbotrons and LED billboards all around the venues. Teams will also enjoy upgraded dressing-room facilities such as individual lockers, massage beds and white boards.
“For the four clubs which have moved – Hougang, Balestier, Warriors FC and Geylang – they will still train at their original stadiums,” said Yazeen. “And since the FAS is helping to pay for the upgraded facilities and fan experience, we would expect those clubs to continue their community and outreach projects to bring more fans to the clubs.”
With better crowd viewing experiences, he expects that crowd figures will continue to rise despite online live coverage of the full slate of SPL matches this season.
Youth development, and Albirex’s dominance
Last season, FAS introduced a major policy on youth development for all local SPL clubs. The six teams – Home, Tampines, Balestier, Geylang, Hougang and Warriors FC – had to include at least six Under-23 players in their squads, with three starting every game.
This policy has led to the number of U-23 players in these clubs to nearly double in one season – from 33 in 2017 to 65 last year. Some clubs had even taken in more U-23 players than their requirements.
Yazeen believes this augurs well for the league’s objective of putting youth development as a central focus. Nevertheless, he is also adamant that the SPL clubs have to meet the high bar of excellence that defending champions Albirex have set in recent years.
The Singapore-based Japanese feeder club had swept all four trophies last season – the Community Shield, the SPL, the League Cup and the Singapore Cup. They are the three-time defending league champions, and are also winners of both Cups for the past four seasons.
Even though FAS has insisted that they have to fulfil new requirements – sign a minimum of four local U-21 players, start a minimum of two of them and have two of them playing throughout the first half of their SPL matches – a revamped Albirex team still remain a daunting opponent for the other clubs.
However, Yazeen said, “Some of the other clubs’ chairmen have expressed to me their concerns about the situation and the issue of motivation among their clubs due to Albirex’s dominance.
“But I view Albirex’s dominance as a benchmark for all the clubs to aspire to. It’s not just on the pitch where they excelled, but also off the pitch with their organisation and community outreach.
“The last thing we want to do is to bring that quality down in order to get the other SPL clubs to be on a par with them. Having more local players in their squad is not because we want to make them less dominant, but so that the younger local players get a valuable chance to learn from Albirex.”
With clubs like Hougang and Home United boosting their squads with talented new signings, Yazeen is confident that Albirex will find it much tougher to stay dominant this season, starting with Saturday’s Community Shield clash with Home United.
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