Sunday night fixtures and televised 3pm Saturday kick-offs are among the proposals as bidding for the new Premier League rights packages is set to begin.
The Premier League’s current £5bn+ domestic deals with Sky, Amazon Prime and TNT (was BT Sport) are set to end next year.
Today the organisation is set to meet clubs to explain how they may be able to get more money from broadcast deals – while at the same time work around already busy fixture schedules.
A quick way to do this, would be to show more games, so both Monday and Friday night fixtures, plus evening games at the weekend.
The 3pm Saturday kick-off is more controversial, as it’s subject to a blackout, dating back to the 1960s. This was to prevent a negative impact on gate receipts.
DAZN has previously called this “medieval” as it sought an end to the ruling, so it could show every EFL game.
It’s thought that the Premier League will stand firm, but WSL games may be given the slot.
The rights deal goes out to tender this autumn. Under the current deal, there are 7 packages, covering 200 games with Sky holding 4 of these (128 matches).
The new deal could cover 250 games, with new companies, including Leeds-based DAZN thought likely to enter the bidding process.
