EPL v La Liga: football’s real battle in Asia
by Chris Reed
Watching my beloved Newcastle United hammer 6 past a hapless Aston Villa last weekend in a bar in Singapore at 10pm really brought home how important football is to Singaporean’s and Asians in general. The great thing about watching the English Premiership (EPL) here is that any kick off in England is evening here so I can do a full day’s activities and then sit down in a bar or at home and watch any EPL match. I actually get to watch more of Newcastle’s game here than I would in the UK. Why? Because in the UK all the Saturday 3pm games are not allowed to be shown live on TV whereas here I can watch every single one of them on 10 different channels live. So I can watch every home and away Newcastle game to my heart’s content! Seeing the EPL’s leading goal scorer Andy Carroll become a star here is uplifting and ironic as he would never even contemplate how far his goals have an effect. I might even get to see a Singaporean where the new Puma Newcastle top and not the plethora of ManU, Liverpool and Arsenal ones usually seen in the Malls here. Though I think that might take more than just one victory! There is a ranging battle here between the two broadcasters, Singtel and Starhub, that make the battle between Sky and BT in the UK look like child’s play. Starhub used to have the EPL and now Singtel do. But Starhub do have La Liga, home of the new World Champions and also arguably the two most famous clubs in the world Barcelona and Real Madrid. Unlike the UK there is no sharing of matches. It’s a choice, either you sign up for Starhub and La Liga or Singtel and the EPL or if you’re mad, both! I have both! The marketing is amazing though with both claiming that their league is the World’s greatest, fastest, most thrilling, exciting and other such superlatives. It does though have a knock on effect as the number of Madrid and Barca shirts being worn in Singapore grows so the battle lines intensify. Let the best league win!