So far this season fans have been able to watch every Premier League game via their existing subscriptions to Sky Sports and BT Sport, with the odd game free to air on BBC One. But now the Premier League have revealed plans that mean fans will have to fork out £14.95 to watch some of their teams games live! Revenues have been rising for Premier League clubs over the past decade thanks to the broadcasters and igaming software companies, and for some supporters already paying for monthly TV subscriptions in the region of £50 this could be a bitter pill to swallow.
All fixtures until the end of October will continue to be made available to fans to watch live in the UK. The current live match selections will remain in place and will be broadcast as normal. In addition, the five matches per round not already selected will be made available to supporters on a pay-per view basis, accessed via the BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office platforms. The agreement will be regularly reviewed in consultation with the clubs and in line with any decision made by the Government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums.
Leeds United’s games against Wolves and Leicester set to be broadcast live on Sky Sports, this means their first game on the new pay per view platforms will be the trip to Villa Park, now on Friday 23rd October. The next wound of TV fixtures have yet to be announced but as it stands Leeds United’s next ‘televised’ games are those against Newcastle United and West Brom in December, set to be broadcast on Amazon Prime. If half of Leeds’ other games are selected for broadcast this could mean fans have to fork out in the region of £60-75 to watch their teams pay per view games before the New Year.
With the cost of watching their teams matches live set to double does the latest move show how out of touch with reality the Premier League is? In these difficult and uncertain times there is no doubt the clubs have pressures on their revenues, but supporters are feeling the squeeze too. Furlough and redundancies mean that the fans have financial pressures too. I have no issue with the clubs trying to reclaim some money for watching their matches live but at £15 will it force more people to look for illegal streams?
Season ticket holders too will feel extremely put out about having to pay £15 to watch a game they have already paid for. Surely something has to be done to provide them free access to the matches? With Covid-19 cases rising across the country and local lockdowns rumoured it seems unlikely that supporters will be let back into stadiums in any significant numbers any time soon. Is £15 a game for the rest of the season really sustainably for the fans?
