Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham will all be impacted by a major TV decision from the Premier League with the women’s game also to be affected
The Premier League are set to finalise plans for a major TV scheduling shake-up which will have a significant impact on Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. So far this season one game has aired on either Monday or Friday night with an early kick off and late kick off often sandwiching the 3pm games on Saturday with two fixtures then shown live on Sunday. However, that is set to change in the next deal.
According to The Telegraph, 25% more Premier League games will be screened, with four games available to watch live on Sundays, one of which will be a 6:30pm kick off. The Saturday 3pm blackout for women’s football is also set to be dropped in an attempt to boost viewership figures.
Selling off what is expected to be at least 50 extra matches for the next cycle will be freed up in order to send profits soaring in the Women’s Super League. It has also been noted in the report that club executives held a meeting in London on Monday to advance discussions around creating what they hope will be the first billion pound women’s football league.
The news comes with the setting up of a private equity firm called ‘NewCo’, who will run the top two women’s divisions independently. Talks are now being centred around moving the usual 6:30pm games to a 3pm slot in an attempt to grow audience numbers.
As a result, this could be great news for TV rights holders for the men’s game, amid talk of the 3pm blackout eventually being removed. The door will be opened for more matches to be shown live, though it is sure to cause mass controversy for travelling fans.
This season’s Community Shield between Arsenal and Manchester City was already brought forward from 5:30pm to 4pm amid fan complaints about dealing with return journeys on a Sunday. More matches will also be available for the Friday and Monday slots in the next TV deal, with sources close to talks expecting five sets of 50 match packs to be put out to tender next month.
