Matches on TV next season?

[aggi]

It's looking pretty unlikely that we'll be back to normal in terms of going to games by the start of next season. Has there been any announcement on whether there will be a similar thing to the end of this season (ie. all games being shown live)?

[Vino blanco]

Every Leeds game and Leeds under 23s game is being shown live on every TV station

[claretburns]

I think it will carry on as it has been over the past few weeks, games spread out over the weekend and 3pm Saturday allowed to broadcast live games. At least for the first couple of months, before hopefully, fans will be allowed back to stadiums and holding out much much more hope a vaccine is found and works.

[ClaretTony]

Absolutely nothing said as yet but suggestions, last I heard, that it will not be as it has been recently with all matches being shown.

[jrgbfc]

I'm sure they've said it's back to normal next season. So if its behind closed doors and not on TV it's tough luck. Don't think Sky and BT were too keen on paying a fortune for the TV rights and them basically being worthless.

[dushanbe]

I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else but David Ornstein led with this in his Athletic column on Monday 6th July.

Although the last 92 fixtures in the 2019-20 Premier League campaign had to take place behind closed doors, at least all of them will be shown live on television.

However, The Athletic has learned that this was a one-off move in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Premier League will go back to its normal UK broadcast model next season, even though top-flight stadiums are expected to remain at least partially shut in the coming months.

UK broadcast rights are divided between Sky Sports and BT Sport, with Amazon set to show 20 matches during the 2020-21 season. The BBC has shown four matches of the resumed 2019-20 season but will return to showing highlights when the current campaign ends.

The development will deny huge numbers the chance to watch games either inside grounds or in real-time on TV and come as a particular blow to fans who have decided against renewing their season tickets, either because of health concerns or uncertainty over how many matches they can attend.

The decision also raises understandable fears of a rise in the illegal streaming, which, according to one study, cost Premier League clubs around £1 million of revenue per fixture in 2018-19.

[joey13]

Absolutely nothing said as yet but suggestions, last I heard, that it will not be as it has been recently with all matches being shown.

That’s the opposite to what I heard ,Sky viewing figures have increased and they are happy with how it’s gone

[cricketfieldclarets]

I'm sure they've said it's back to normal next season. So if its behind closed doors and not on TV it's tough luck. Don't think Sky and BT were too keen on paying a fortune for the TV rights and them basically being worthless.

Then they need to look at the bigger picture.

[joey13]

The increase in coverage was agreed with government and police due to safety concerns about fans congregating outside grounds.

[Chester Perry]

It is Sky who said (and referenced indirectly by Ornstein) that we would be back to normal next season, for all the live to air games have added in interest in the game, doing so any longer would have a long term devaluing of the rights as the practise would be normalised - neither Sky/BT or the Premier League want this, it is not in any of their interests commercially.

[Spijed]

I'm sure they've said it's back to normal next season. So if its behind closed doors and not on TV it's tough luck. Don't think Sky and BT were too keen on paying a fortune for the TV rights and them basically being worthless.

If the games are not on free-to-air channels they are worth a lot of money due to the vast Asian market.

Certainly not worthless.

[Chester Perry]

If the games are not on free-to-air channels they are worth a lot of money due to the vast Asian market.

Certainly not worthless.

As far as I am aware all the International rights holders have rights to every game - of the big 5 leagues only the Premier League does not sell the rights to every game domestically - it is something they have held in reserve to help grow revenues cycle on cycle - though even releasing so many extra games in the last cycle - domestic earnings fell. The average price per game in the UK on TV has fallen a huge amount in the last 3 cycles

[Dyched]

The season should be postponed if they aren’t showing it. What’s the point if fans can’t even watch their team on tv?

[claretandy]

Every game is televised somewhere.

[Chester Perry]

The season should be postponed if they aren’t showing it. What’s the point if fans can’t even watch their team on tv?

It will be part of the drive to get fans back in the ground - the TV companies are desperate for it - as apparently are the players and managers (more so than the clubs themselves)

[claretblue]

The season should be postponed if they aren’t showing it. What’s the point if fans can’t even watch their team on tv?

you could always set the recorder for the last 2 minutes of Match of the Day!

[ClaretTony]

That’s the opposite to what I heard ,Sky viewing figures have increased and they are happy with how it’s gone

They will have increased. Nothing has come out from the Premier League though as yet.

[Bosscat]

That’s the opposite to what I heard ,Sky viewing figures have increased and they are happy with how it’s gone

Quite possibly due to Pick TV on freeview increasing the viewing figures....

[Chester Perry]

Quite possibly due to Pick TV on freeview increasing the viewing figures....

both Sky and BT reported a significant uplift in viewers for the "pay" matches on their own Channels - best overall audiences in over a decade for some matches

[ClaretTony]

both Sky and BT reported a significant uplift in viewers for the "pay" matches on their own Channels - best overall audiences in over a decade for some matches

You would expect that though given all the people who weren’t able to go to games

[Chester Perry]

You would expect that though given all the people who weren’t able to go to games

yep

[Foulthrow]

I would imagine it’s a bit of a catch 22 for Sky and other providers. If they continue to show all games, with some on free to air, then some might cancel their subscriptions thinking that they still get some football to watch. However, if games are not available on UK tv but behind closed doors then this is going to force people to access illegal content in order to watch their team. Some of these people will then cancel their subscription when they find a way of accessing this content for free.

[Chester Perry]

I would imagine it’s a bit of a catch 22 for Sky and other providers. If they continue to show all games, with some on free to air, then some might cancel their subscriptions thinking that they still get some football to watch. However, if games are not available on UK tv but behind closed doors then this is going to force people to access illegal content in order to watch their team. Some of these people will then cancel their subscription when they find a way of accessing this content for free.

Which is why the Premier League spends more on and puts more energy into stopping piracy than any other sporting organisation in the world, prosecuting violators of the copyright big and small

[arise_sir_charge]

If you’re in charge of flogging the Premier League TV rights and you can’t land a plumb deal when you’ve literally got a captive audience, you need a career change.

[superdimitri]

You can watch every game for less than some people pay for sky in a month if you sub to DAZN Canada and use a Canadian VPN with no geo restrictions.
The full replays are available as soon as 2h to watch on demand too.

[TheOriginalLongsider]

You can watch every game for less than some people pay for sky in a month if you sub to DAZN Canada and use a Canadian VPN with no geo restrictions.
The full replays are available as soon as 2h to watch on demand too.

Do you not need a Canadian credit card?

[superdimitri]

Not sure but you can buy a shared sub on redditbay and test it with a free VPN trial. Some VPN may be blocked so ymmv.

There's other options to though, NBC sports gold, Peacock and cable packages from the USA for example. USA you need more than one subscription since the 'important' games (for us usually not that many a season) are on NBC cable channels rather than the sports gold subscription.

[ClaretDiver]

both Sky and BT reported a significant uplift in viewers for the "pay" matches on their own Channels - best overall audiences in over a decade for some matches

Part of the reason for this is that SKY introduced an offer for a rolling 31 day contract for Sky Premier and Sky EFL for 18 quid per month. Therefore customers did not need to contract in to the complete sports package and could cancel at any time with 31 days notice and no penalty....perfect for those who wanted to watch the remainder of the season most effectively.

[Chester Perry]

Part of the reason for this is that SKY introduced an offer for a rolling 31 day contract for Sky Premier and Sky EFL for 18 quid per month. Therefore customers did not need to contract in to the complete sports package and could cancel at any time with 31 days notice and no penalty....perfect for those who wanted to watch the remainder of the season most effectively.

all apart of the plan to wet the appetite and get them into the subscriber funnel, posted a pod and article on it in the MMT thread about 3 weeks back, for the rights holders their were a lot of background machinations going on for restart, strengthening their own subscriber positions as well as their negotiating position in the next cycle - the Premier League have opened the door (for free) to a lot of access and flexibility that were future negotiating positions in maintaining/boosting the values of domestic rights.

[Chester Perry]

not confirmation but expectation setting that televised football is going back to it's contracted normality in the new season

Premier League games 'will not be televised on free-to-air channels' next season as Sky and BT Sport revert to showing only half of top-flight games live despite restrictions on crowds
- All 92 Premier League games post-restart were screened live in the UK
- And 33 of those were televised free-to-air on BBC, Amazon and Pick
- But reports suggest broadcasters will revert to their original deals next season
- There is no longer Government pressure on TV companies to make games free
- It comes despite likelihood crowds won't return to stadiums until October
- And even then numbers are expected to be limited by social distancing
By ADAM SHERGOLD FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:33, 28 July 2020 | UPDATED: 10:03, 28 July 2020

Premier League matches 'will not be televised live on free-to-air channels' next season despite fans being locked out of stadiums for the first few weeks.

And the unprecedented screening of every top-flight fixture in the UK as seen post-restart will also not continue in 2020-21.

Since English football returned following the Covid-19 lockdown, all 92 Premier League matches have been broadcast live on either Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime or the BBC.

Thirty-three of those 92 matches were shown free-to-air on either the BBC, Amazon or Sky's Pick channel with games played behind closed doors without supporters.

A Telegraph report this week suggested more games could be broadcast free next season but, according to The Times, Premier League coverage will revert to normal at the beginning of the next campaign with subscriptions needed to view the games.

That's despite the likelihood that fans won't be allowed inside stadiums for at least the first three weeks of a season due to start on September 12 - and only then in restricted numbers.

Broadcast partners Sky, BT Sport and Amazon came under pressure from the government to ensure all matches were accessible following the league's resumption in June.

But with that pressure now gone, the broadcasters are keen to revert to the previous situation where only half of Premier League games are shown live.

In 2018, Sky Sports paid £3.75billion to show 128 matches a season, while BT Sport paid £975m for 52 live games, with Amazon securing a deal to livestream 20 matches.

The Premier League paid a rebate to broadcasters before the league resumed to compensate for the disruption caused to the season and for the free-to-air matches.

Though the Government is keen to get crowds back into stadiums by October, this is likely to be in restricted numbers at first to comply with social distancing guidelines.

The BBC's live coverage of the match between Southampton and Manchester City attracted a league record 5.7million UK viewers on July 5.

Sportsmail has contacted Sky Sports for comment.