The Premier League and English Football League will hold talks early next year about ending the longstanding Saturday 3pm blackout on live televised football. The UK remains the last country in Europe to enforce the rule, which prohibits broadcasts of matches during a two-and-a-half-hour window on Saturdays.
Both leagues are aiming to sell all their matches to domestic broadcasters in the next rights cycle, believing this is the only way to generate additional revenue. Currently, Sky Sports broadcasts 270 Premier League games and 1,059 EFL matches per season, but deals are becoming less lucrative in real terms.
The Premier League’s current four-year domestic deal with Sky and TNT Sports is worth £6.7 billion, but the real-terms value has declined by 23 per cent compared with the previous cycle. The EFL’s five-year deal with Sky, valued at £935 million, covers exclusive rights to 1,059 games annually. If the blackout is removed, the EFL could sell all 1,891 of its matches.
Many Premier League clubs’ American owners have long pushed for broadcasting every game, as is standard in US sports. The blackout is governed by Article 48 of Uefa’s statutes, which allows member associations to prohibit live football broadcasts during specified periods. The Football Association, which implements the rule on behalf of the leagues, is unlikely to object to its removal.
If the blackout is lifted in England, leagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may seek compensation, as they also enforce Article 48. Concerns have been raised that broadcasting all 3pm Saturday kick-offs could negatively affect attendances at matches across the UK.
