The 2016-17 English Premier League season is upon us. For many, that means waking up bright and early on Saturday and Sunday mornings to catch your favourite club or marquee match.
Fortunately, Canada is one of the best countries in the world to watch the EPL live on TV and online. Virtually every match is televised live or made available on a same-day basis. The biggest matches are always available live, and many cities in Canada have local supporters groups for big clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and others.
TV & online rights in Canada for the EPL are shared by TSN & Sportsnet. The matches are spread out over over TSN’s five channels and Sportsnet’s seven channels. Yes, in order to have access to every EPL match, you would need to have all twelve channels in your television package.
That said, a basic TV package of TSN 1 & 2, along with Sportsnet’s regional feeds should get you most of the biggest Saturday matches, and some of the Sunday, Monday & midweek games. Here are links to their current schedules:
TSN’s English Premier League Schedule
Sportsnet’s English Premier League Schedule
Adding Sportsnet World will bring additional Saturday and Sunday matches to your options, along with FA Cup, Scottish Premier League & Bundesliga coverage. Sportsnet World also is a good bet for tape delayed & midweek games, and matches that are rescheduled on short notice. You get a lot, but Sportsnet World is an expensive add-on to the standard sports channels.
If you’ve cut the cord and are looking for legal soccer streams in Canada, both Sportsnet & TSN have options for you.
Sportsnet Now allows you to subscribe to their online service without a cable subscription. This standalone service costs $24.99/month. Sportsnet World Now can be added to the standard channels for an additional fee.
At the moment TSN’s online service TSN GO is only available to cable subscribers. However, it may be possible to subscribe to TSN through your mobile phone provider. Bell & Rogers are the major phone providers for this service. Please note there are additional fees and data costs involved.
Finally, if you’re looking for coverage of the League Cup (formerly called the Capital One Cup), BeIn Sport Canada is another specialty channel / online service that covers the tournament. They also have league matches from the EFL Championship, La Liga, Ligue 1, & Serie A. BeIn is not available on all cable systems, but they do have an online service that you can subscribe to separately.
There’s hundreds of matches and great moments to experience in 2016-17. Whether you’re a lifelong club supporter, or a casual fan who likes big stars in huge matches, there’s lots on offer this season. Enjoy!