When NBC took over the American Premier League rights prior to the 2013-14 season, one of the main selling points was the fact that fans could watch every game with their cable subscription, either on TV or streaming through NBC’s Extra Time service.

Recently the NBC Sports Group has announced that 130 "live" EPL matches would be available online for US viewers via their "Premier League Pass" (at a price of $49.99) with no plans to offer archived matches. Additionally, the rest of the season's EPL matches are only available with a cable provider subscription.

This means EPL fans who have a cable service provider will now need to pay an additional $49.99 in order to view all of their favorite teams's matches.

For EPL fans who do not have a cable service provider, this means they will only see a small portion of their favorite team's matches for $49.99 with no other streaming options available to them.

NBC and the NBC Sports Group need to offer more flexibility and/or pricing options for both cable service provider and "cord cutter" EPL fans. Not only does this announcement have the potential to hurt the growing popularity of the EPL and soccer in the US, it also does little to help the growing popularity of streaming sports services.