Huge boost for fans as Premier League ‘enter talks with government to continue to show EVERY game live until they are allowed back in stadiums… but this time it WON’T be free to air’
- All Premier League games could be shown on TV until fans are allowed to return
- Talks are ongoing with the government about continuing to provide fans access
- Under original plans, nearly half of next month’s games wouldn’t be televised
- The government will however not push for them to be available free to air
The Premier League are reportedly in discussions with the government to continue to televise every game live until fans can return to stadiums.
Fans will not be permitted back into grounds until October at the earliest and talks have taken place about continuing to give them access to games while they are being played behind closed doors.
According to The Times, plans have been drawn up to keep showing matches live on TV with the season returning in little over two weeks, but the government will not push for them to be broadcasted free to air as happened during Project Restart.
The Premier League are in talks to continue to show games live until fans can return to grounds
Under original plans, nearly half of next month’s top-flight games will not be shown live on TV
Sky Sports had shown a third of their matches to viewers without subscriptions when the season resumed last term and are making preparations to expand their coverage should they be asked to with the league’s other main broadcaster BT Sport doing the same.
Fans will not be able to attend games at the start of the new season with an aim for them to return in October when stadiums even then can only be at 25 per cent capacity.
Under the Premier League’s original plans, nearly half of next month’s matches would not be available to watch on TV but talks with government officials could see that position change.
The government will not push for games to be free to air as they did during Project Restart
Supporters can return to stadiums in October but they will be at 25 per cent capacity
This will come as a huge boost to supporters who would have otherwise attended matches while the move is not expected to affect the financial arrangement between main broadcasters Sky and BT and the Premier League.
The EFL, meanwhile, announced that all Championship, League One and League Two games will be available on Sky or streamed via the iFollow platform for the upcoming season.