A Blue up North discusses the latest news with regards to TV football broadcasting.
On Friday the Premier League announced their offering for the next 3 season package to TV broadcasters. The current agreement, which we are midway through, sees Sky Sports show 126 live matches per season and BT Sport just 42. For this, they paid £4.176billion and £960million respectively over the three seasons.
The new package runs from 2019/20, and the bidding process is expected to start in February. The number of live matches available has increased to 200, which is more than half of all the 380 Premier League matches in a single campaign.
The other headline details include eight matches which will kick off at 7:45 pm on Saturday evenings, and also 3 set of midweek fixtures and one bank holiday set of fixtures all live on TV.
Saturday prime time matches are relatively commonplace across Europe and will see Premier League football going head to head with the likes of X Factor and Strictly for viewing ratings. The primary concern for all travelling supporters will be the distance back home when a match finishes after 9:30 pm and the availability of public transport. They already have to make special arrangements on some midweek evening matches regularly, but last trains home on a Saturday are not for the faint-hearted and are less reliable. Supporters around the world will need to allow for a whole new time slot to follow their team from the early hours on Sunday mornings to Saturday lunchtime.
The complete midweek and bank holiday slots is also new. It will mean there will be multiple matches live on tv simultaneously mirroring European games and the last round of Premier League matches at the end of the season. Each of these four slots are within single packages meaning that all ten games within each slot will be televised live by just one broadcaster.
The overall value is expected to increase significantly yet again despite the £5.136billiion paid for the current three-year deal. Apparently, the extra matches will help fuel the bidding. No one single broadcaster can show more than 148 games meaning any 4 of packages A to E and either package F or G.
Package A – 32 matches on Saturdays at 12:30
Package B – 32 matches on Saturdays at 17:30
Package C – 24 matches on Sundays at 14:00 and eight matches on Saturdays at 19:45
Package D – 32 matches on Sundays at 16:30
Package E – 24 matches on Mondays at 20:00 or Fridays at 19:30/20:00 and eight matches on Sundays at 14:00
Package F – 20 matches from one Bank Holiday and one-midweek fixture programme
Package G – 20 matches from two-midweek fixture programmes
Written by Jon Ellis – A Blue up North – @clitheroeblue
