6:30pm Sunday Games? Next PL TV Rights Auction

[Kashmire Hawker]

Via this article on Microsoft, the Telegraph sets out the details of the next Premier League TV Rights Tender.

Rights for 250 matches in 5 seperate packages shall be up for grabs, with the big change being a 6:30pm Sunday slot and therefore enabling WSL fixtures to be moved to Saturday afternoons.

Women’s games would be able to be televised at 3pm on Saturday, as Women’s football isn’t covered by UEFA’s Article 48 of a Broadcast Blackout between 2:45pm-5:15pm on Saturday’s and such a move is seen to help to deliver even greater growth for Women’s football.

The Auction is due to commence in the coming weeks, with the usual suspects all likely eying up games and with Government permission, will be for the period between 2025-2026 and 2028-2029.

Weekends could be crammed with action, with four TV kick off times mooted for Sunday alone, as the top tier sells an extra 50 matches to broadcasters.

Some insiders anticipate extra matches will be accommodated in the schedules by Women’s Super League proposals to move to the Saturday 3pm blackout slot.

Wall-to-wall coverage for the Premier League is possible on Sundays, with broadcasters predicting regular noon kick-offs with the last match potentially beginning after 6pm. Those times were denied by a source close to the bidding process, although the informed figure declined to go into further detail.

MSN

 

[Henry Palfrey]

What happened to the Government football task force that was supposed to represent supporters? Rhetorical question.

 

[Wolf316]

Sounds bloody awful!

 

[Urko]

With our mismanaged decline, doubt it will affect us

 

[StaffordWolf]

Any chance they get rid of the blackout anytime soon? Until I can watch any game I want I'm not paying a penny anymore. We get royally ripped off in this country to watch the team that would be nothing without us.

It's completely unacceptable that these rip off companies charge so much to watch a hand full of wolves games on the telly, mostly against the big 6 teams where we'll more often than not lose.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Not sure what the WSL bit is about, surely they can move to 3pm Sat if they want to, it isn't 'enabled' by a 6.30pm PL game, it's just pushed out of that slot.

 

[maws]

Away travel on a Sunday is totally **** on public transport

 

[Baboon]

Ugh. An away fan's lot is not a happy one!

 

[woop woop barmy army]

Ugh. An away fan's lot is not a happy one!

You just know they will send us to places like Ipswich

 

[Will Wolf]

Any chance they get rid of the blackout anytime soon? Until I can watch any game I want I'm not paying a penny anymore. We get royally ripped off in this country to watch the team that would be nothing without us.

It's completely unacceptable that these rip off companies charge so much to watch a hand full of wolves games on the telly, mostly against the big 6 teams where we'll more often than not lose.

The 3pm blackout is very outdated IMO. If they broadcast every game in the UK it would cut out a lot of the illegal streams.

Also you could keep most of the games as 3pm Saturday KOs, no reason to have 12.30 or 5.30pm KO if they can broadcast the games at 3pm

 

[kidder_wolf_II]

The 3pm blackout is very outdated IMO. If they broadcast every game in the UK it would cut out a lot of the illegal streams.

Also you could keep most of the games as 3pm Saturday KOs, no reason to have 12.30 or 5.30pm KO if they can broadcast the games at 3pm

If they ever scrap the 3pm black out then it will be for a Netflix type subscription package where you pay a monthly fee to have access to ALL premier league games rather than purchasing just the games of your favourite team.

And if that happens I’m going to want value for my money and will want all the games spread over different times.

Fans like myself who go home and away aren’t going to bother with a package like that if most the games all kick off at 3pm. Even the fans who don’t go to games won’t be overly keen only being able to watch 1 of the 3pm kick offs while another 6 or 7 kick off at the same time.

There is zero chance we will ever see a return of most the games kicking off at 3pm. Personally I loved how they did it during lockdown were there was only ever 1 game being played at a time and we got to see all 10 matches each week

 

[Minimalist]

The 3pm blackout is very outdated IMO. If they broadcast every game in the UK it would cut out a lot of the illegal streams.

Also you could keep most of the games as 3pm Saturday KOs, no reason to have 12.30 or 5.30pm KO if they can broadcast the games at 3pm

The 12:30 KO is there to suit foreign markets. It’s not , primarily, due to the 3pm blackout.

 

[Peszkywolf]

If they ever scrap the 3pm black out then it will be for a Netflix type subscription package where you pay a monthly fee to have access to ALL premier league games rather than purchasing just the games of your favourite team.

And if that happens I’m going to want value for my money and will want all the games spread over different times.

Fans like myself who go home and away aren’t going to bother with a package like that if most the games all kick off at 3pm. Even the fans who don’t go to games won’t be overly keen only being able to watch 1 of the 3pm kick offs while another 6 or 7 kick off at the same time.

There is zero chance we will ever see a return of most the games kicking off at 3pm. Personally I loved how they did it during lockdown were there was only ever 1 game being played at a time and we got to see all 10 matches each week

If it was on a fan oriented rota and the times not too early or late then it wouldn't be too bad. Like others say public transport on a Sunday is like the stone age.

 

[kidder_wolf_II]

If it was on a fan oriented rota and the times not too early or late then it wouldn't be too bad. Like others say public transport on a Sunday is like the stone age.

I’ve given up on using public transport for away games even on a Saturday due to continuing strikes so I just drive plus the traffic and parking is better in a Sunday but I appreciate others don’t drive so Sunday games are more of a hassle but unfortunately for some those games aren’t are going to change

 

[bigwolf]

Currently there are 200 games televised a season so that's jumping to 250 games.

So about two thirds of all prem games will be televised under the new deal.

I'm sure klopp will be delighted. Perhaps they could just give him the 6.30pm Sunday slot each week to stop his whining.

 

[Ned]

The Saturday and Friday night games they occasionally throw in are bad enough but Sunday evening is just awful. But, again, nothing will be done unless the fans work together and act.

 

[bully9]

Away travel on a Sunday is totally **** on public transport

 

[Jonzy54]

I remember ,I think it was back in the days of ITV sport when we were selected to play Preston at Molineux on Boxing Day at 745 pm .It was a horrible freezing cold night and after the festivities throughout the day people were thrilled to attend -not.
I also remember the FA Cup game against Rochdale on the BBC which was scheduled late on Sunday evening.
There is absolutely zero consideration given to attending fans anymore.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Via this article on Microsoft, the Telegraph sets out the details of the next Premier League TV Rights Tender.

Rights for 250 matches in 5 seperate packages shall be up for grabs, with the big change being a 6:30pm Sunday slot and therefore enabling WSL fixtures to be moved to Saturday afternoons.

Women’s games would be able to be televised at 3pm on Saturday, as Women’s football isn’t covered by UEFA’s Article 48 of a Broadcast Blackout between 2:45pm-5:15pm on Saturday’s and such a move is seen to help to deliver even greater growth for Women’s football.

The Auction is due to commence in the coming weeks, with the usual suspects all likely eying up games and with Government permission, will be for the period between 2025-2026 and 2028-2029.

The Saturday afternoon blackout isn’t a blanket ban by UEFA, it’s a rule which can be worked around, and has been by other UEFA nations who have allowed televising 3pm games. The UK is the only country it applies to, EFL have already suggested dropping it, and so far it’s been the PL which has blocked change.

How the 3pm blackout works and why its days may be numbered

On Wednesday morning, the EFL took a huge step towards ending English football’s 3pm television blackout on Saturdays. The organisation, which runs the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, issued a request for broadcast proposals from the 2024-25 season onwards, which is when its...

theathletic.com

The idea of Sunday teatime football games is absolutely terrible for fans who want to see the game live. Yeah great for tv audiences, but not fans travelling to games.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Having Sunday evening games shows that no consideration is given to fans. Imagine Newcastle v Brighton on a Sunday evening. Poor public transport added to Monday being a working day, means away fans won’t get home until the early hours. It’s ridiculous.

 

[SingleMalt]

The Saturday afternoon blackout isn’t a blanket ban by UEFA, it’s a rule which can be worked around, and has been by other UEFA nations who have allowed televising 3pm games. The UK is the only country it applies to, EFL have already suggested dropping it, and so far it’s been the PL which has blocked change.

How the 3pm blackout works and why its days may be numbered

On Wednesday morning, the EFL took a huge step towards ending English football’s 3pm television blackout on Saturdays. The organisation, which runs the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, issued a request for broadcast proposals from the 2024-25 season onwards, which is when its...

theathletic.com

The idea of Sunday teatime football games is absolutely terrible for fans who want to see the game live. Yeah great for tv audiences, but not fans travelling to games.

The authorities (FA, PL, BBC, Sky etc) couldn’t care less about fans in the ground. Just look at VAR for proof of that.

 

[Minimalist]

Having Sunday evening games shows that no consideration is given to fans. Imagine Newcastle v Brighton on a Sunday evening. Poor public transport added to Monday being a working day, means away fans won’t get home until the early hours. It’s ridiculous.

Is it any worse than a Monday night?

In fact 6:30 Sunday is probably better than the Monday 7:45 games.

Not that I’m in favour, if it were up to me every game would ko simultaneously at 3pm on a Saturday! But I think that genie is well and truly out the bottle……

 

[sillytuna]

Is it any worse than a Monday night?

In fact 6:30 Sunday is probably better than the Monday 7:45 games.

Not that I’m in favour, if it were up to me every game would ko simultaneously at 3pm on a Saturday! But I think that genie is well and truly out the bottle……

Yes it's much worse for public transport than a monday night. It's basically impossible to use trains early or late sunday, and frequently services are reduced, slow, or cancelled that day.

 

[clivewolves]

We seem to be inching towards having every match televised. I started a thread a while ago making the case for every professional match being televised or streamed. Just get on and do it.

Sunday evening is a pain in the **** for some fans and they'll moan, but I bet the stadiums will will be full, or close to it, so it won't make much difference to the clubs, league or broadcasters.

 

[Bankswolf The Third]

Newcastle/Brighton away at 18:30? Love to see the trains for them

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Is it any worse than a Monday night?

In fact 6:30 Sunday is probably better than the Monday 7:45 games.

Not that I’m in favour, if it were up to me every game would ko simultaneously at 3pm on a Saturday! But I think that genie is well and truly out the bottle……

The big difference is if people are relying on public transport. Rail and bus services are not particularly frequent on a Sunday so can only make travelling more problematic.

Saturday and Sunday lunchtime kick offs are also difficult for fans of teams in the far north or far south of the country. Does anyone ever consider away fans when deciding televised fixtures? Personally, I doubt it.

 

[Golden Arrow]

Away travel on a Sunday is totally **** on public transport

You're not kidding; it's becoming an absolute lottery, not helped of course by the continued strikes.
And if I am lucky enough to get back to my local station there's no flippin bus service !

It's no surprise that in my local area the growth business is the taxi firms.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

You're not kidding; it's becoming an absolute lottery, not helped of course by the continued strikes.
And if I am lucky enough to get back to my local station there's no flippin bus service !

It's no surprise that in my local area the growth business is the taxi firms.

Imagine the cost of a taxi from Brighton to Newcastle..

 

[Golden Arrow]

The big difference is if people are relying on public transport. Rail and bus services are not particularly frequent on a Sunday so can only make travelling more problematic.

Saturday and Sunday lunchtime kick offs are also difficult for fans of teams in the far north or far south of the country. Does anyone ever consider away fans when deciding televised fixtures? Personally, I doubt it.

"No" is the answer to your question.

Many people are reliant on public transport and as a car owner I have no problem leaving the vehicle on the drive if I have confidence that the bus/train will get to my destination safely and on time. It's that unknown factor of will it turn up that grinds my gears.

Saturday, 300pm is ideal for me as I can build in some slack for if a service doesn't arrive. Friday night, Sunday afternoon or Monday evening is another kettle of fish.

 

[StaffordWolf]

The authorities (FA, PL, BBC, Sky etc) couldn’t care less about fans in the ground. Just look at VAR for proof of that.

Why would they, they can't pump money from the fans who attended.

 

[clivewolves]

From a book of football quotes I was reading yesterday.

 

[Sketchead]

6:30pm on a Sunday is a great slot for TV, as the hangover starts drifting it'll be a nice pick-up before you start thinking about work properly.

Nightmare for trains though. Would be a good time for the Premier League to admit the fixture schedule isn't random and have some sort of 60-mile-max radius between teams and keep those games fairly local for the fans.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

This is 9 potential slots isn't it?

Friday 8pm
Saturday 12.30, 3, 5.30, 7.45
Sunday 2.30, 4.30, 6.30
Monday 8pm

I know they don't all get used, but may as well have done with it and go for 12pm Sunday as well.

Then pay anyone who can be bothered to turn up as extras in their TV show.

 

[Welford Wolf]

Simple, since they don't want us to go - don't go.....

Or if it is somewhere easily accessible by car and you have work the next day then think about it

 

[old jacks thumb]

How many folks whine and moan when the teams in Europe play on a Sunday and it’s not televised? Well here’s the answer.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Access to every PL game for £500 per season sound a good deal?

£41.66 per month

Even that seems rather steep, as it would be impossible to watch every game. Wonderful marketing

 

[kidder_wolf_II]

How many folks whine and moan when the teams in Europe play on a Sunday and it’s not televised? Well here’s the answer.

Exactly I want to watch as many games as possible.

I will still go home and away to every game but we should be catering for the wider market if you want to grow the brand.

Like it or lump it but the world not just football has changed and we need to move with the times. Football should be available to all not just those who go to games.

Multiple packages are the way forward.

1-Netflix style subscription for all premier league games.
2-TV season tickets just for your own club
3-Selected games free of charge
4-Money filtering down to lower leagues to help them reduce their ticket prices

All games kicking off at 3pm is so outdated and we are denying the football loving world from witnessing some epic matches and world class players

 

[MikeH68]

Exactly I want to watch as many games as possible.

I will still go home and away to every game but we should be catering for the wider market if you want to grow the brand.

Like it or lump it but the world not just football has changed and we need to move with the times. Football should be available to all not just those who go to games.

Multiple packages are the way forward.

1-Netflix style subscription for all premier league games.
2-TV season tickets just for your own club
3-Selected games free of charge
4-Money filtering down to lower leagues to help them reduce their ticket prices

All games kicking off at 3pm is so outdated and we are denying the football loving world from witnessing some epic matches and world class players

Totally agree, but would still like some Saturday 3pm kick offs.
Not at all keen on the Sunday 6.30 or Monday 8.00 kickoffs.

 

[Will Wolf]

Apart from the 1500 or so lucky enough to have tickets to Luton on Saturday it will be illegal for every other Wolves fan in the UK to watch the game on Saturday.

Is it any wonder so many fans watch illegal streams.

 

[Baboon]

Apart from the 1500 or so lucky enough to have tickets to Luton on Saturday it will be illegal for every other Wolves fan in the UK to watch the game on Saturday.

Is it any wonder so many fans watch illegal streams.

Actually more like 1,000 Luton tickets and I do take your point.