Could the Premier League's bubble be about to burst?

The much-lauded riches of the Premier League could be in doubt, with declining viewership figures threatening to burst the league's TV rights bubble.

With the latest contract - worth approximately seven billion euros and providing each of the 20 clubs with at least 130 million euros - coming into force this season, it had seemed that the financial strength of England's top flight was as rude as ever, but the consumption habits of football fans are changing.Sky Sports has lost a fifth of its viewership to start the 2016/17 season, while BT has seen its Champions League audience fall by 40 per cent.

According to a survey carried out by The Guardian, fans are turning more and more frequently to online streaming services, leaving behind the traditional - and costly, at 46 euros per month - subscription packages that the TV companies consider profitable enough to fork out so much in securing the rights."If I get a Sky or BT subscription I still don't get all the televised games, so I go to the pub for a match I really want to see, or look for a pirated feed on the web," one fan told the British newspaper.

"When football streams are so accessible these days it's hard to justify paying the ridiculous amount of money Sky charge," another said.

If this proves to be more than a blip then the effect on Premier League clubs could be significant and the TV rights bubble could truly be about to burst.The first four-year deal was signed in the 1980s and gave the TV companies nine league and FA Cup matches per season for 61 million euros, while the current 7 billion euros package offers 168 matches per campaign.

Yet logic dictates that a fall in the purchase of subscription packages will force Sky and BT to reconsider the value of spending so much in acquiring these rights.

That said, there are other broadcasters out there who have surfaced in recent years and who could be willing to go all out when the rights are next auctioned off in three years' time, such as beIN Sports.

It is far too early to write off the Premier League's future completely, but the first signs of unhappy customers are there.