NBC Sports put some of last weekend’s top EPL matches on Peacock Premium, which caused a “lot of anger … among soccer fans in the U.S.,” according to soccer writer Grant Wahl. The move comes after fans had “never seen them do that with NBC (Sports) Gold in previous seasons, where the best game of the weekend … was put behind an additional paywall.” Wahl on his weekly podcast said, “If I pay for games to a service, I want that service to have every game live from that league. If that’s not the case … not only is that frustrating for me, I think it’s bad for the growth of soccer in America. I think you’re going to end up shutting off potential new fans. There are millions of new fans that can still be created out there and you’ve erected a barrier now.” He added this practice actually could open a window for the Bundesliga “maybe making up some of the gap in popularity in the U.S.” with the EPL. That is due to the “combination of forcing people to dip into their wallet again for big games in the Premier League, plus the Bundesliga moving to ESPN+” (“Futbol with Grant Wahl,” 9/21).
