Posted on 17th November 2017
This is a story from the FSF archive – the FSF and SD merged to become the FSA in 2019.
Media reports this morning suggested that the Premier League is looking into the possiblity of introducing Saturday evening kick-offs in the next TV rights sale.
After consulting with its affiliated and associate members earlier today, the Football Supporters’ Federation has issued the following statement in response:
“The FSF notes with concern media reports of a possible significant increase in the number of Premier League matches to be broadcast live under the next three-year broadcast deal from 2019.
“We re-affirm our opposition to any increase in the number of games to be televised live, and while we reluctantly recognise the imposition by Ofcom of a minimum of 190 live broadcast games per season – half of all games, and itself an increase of 22 per season over the current arrangements – we remain firmly opposed to any increase beyond that number.
“Any additional broadcast games would mean even more changes to kick-off times away from 3:00pm on Saturdays, with an impact of both uncertainty and inconvenience to the match-going fans, especially away fans, whose passion is a huge component of the ‘product’ that broadcasters want to buy and sell.
“It is our hope that any increase in the number of live TV games can be accommodated in existing broadcast slots, and reaffirm our call for the interests of match-going fans to be considered when selecting and scheduling games. Particularly in the event of a new Saturday evening TV slot being created, we urge clubs and broadcasters to give due consideration to issues of geography and travel, and to invest some of the huge broadcast revenues into supporting the attendance and contribution of match-going fans, especially away fans.”
Thanks to Laurence Horton for the image used in this article. Reproduced here under Creative Commons license.
Earlier this week, the Premier League announced that it has agreed a new deal with Sky and TNT Sports in which the competition will receive £6.7bn over four years for its UK television rights and with it a significant increase in the number of games that will be selected for live broadcast.
News that the Premier League plans to broadcast around 270 of its games, up from 200, is unwelcome but not entirely unsurprising for matchgoing supporters.
As we get into the 2023-24 season, it’s become clear that football fans across the country are coming out of a summer of ticket price hikes. Many clubs have raised their season ticket and matchday prices across the board despite the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Leeds United supporters are the latest in the Premier League to criticise their club for entering into an agreement with Socios.com
