FOOTBALL’S Saturday afternoon TV outage could face the ax after more than 60 years.
While 3pm matches across Prem and the EFL cannot be shown live on TV except in special circumstances, the UK is the last country in Europe with this policy.
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The Premier League’s new TV deal will see up to 270 games per season shown live Credit: Getty
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No other country still has a 3pm blackout Credit: Alamy
And Sun Sport has been told there is a growing belief among league chiefs that the concept is now outdated – and should be changed within five years.
The Premier League’s new four-year TV deal, with up to 270 of its 380 games shown live, starts next term and will run until the end of the 2028-29 season.
Sky’s five-year EFL deal worth £935m, with more than 1,000 games shown per season, will also expire at the same time, setting the stage for a major review by the game’s authority.
And while the FA, which has overseen the blackout since it was introduced to protect match attendances in the 1960s, had earlier opposed scrapping the policy, the leagues’ wishes could see a change of heart.
The existence of blackouts was a factor in the number of illegal streams with set-top boxes being used to broadcast international TV sources in the UK.
EFL analysis this season is believed to have shown little significant impact on matchday attendances despite the extra number of Saturday lunchtime matches being shown.
European football for the seven – potentially eight – top teams next season will also see even more games moved from Saturday to Sunday TV timeslots.
Ruben Amorim presents a rarely seen pre-match training tactic ahead of the 4-0 defeat at Everton
Last month, Premier club bosses agreed “unanimously” to end their 20-year partnership with media giant IMG and build the league’s own in-house production centre.
This opens up the possibility of a future direct-to-consumer “Premflix” offering for fans, with the remaining Saturday 3pm games an obvious option to raise even more money for clubs.
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Source: HIS Education