Premier League: Saturday night games added to increased TV coverage from 2019-20

Sky Sports currently air the most games in the Premier League deal. (Source: Reuters)

English Premier League will offer more games live on TV starting 2019-20 with an introduction of eight games in the 7.45 PM slot (1.15 AM IST). The number of games that would be shown live on TV would also see an increase from the current 168 to 200 – more than 50% of the league’s 380 games through the course of the season. The changes would come into effect from 2019-20 when the new TV broadcast deal kicks in.

The new deal will replace the existing record £5.136bn TV deal struck in 2015 that saw rights being divided between Sky Sports and BT Sport. As per the new deal, all matches in three midweek rounds, and one Bank Holiday round per season, all be broadcast live.

The latest TV deal which began in 2016-17 and runs until 2018-19 saw a 70% increase from the previous £3bn deal. It had Sky paying £4.176bn to broadcast 126 matches, including the first Friday evening games and both Sunday packages, while BT Sport paid £960m for 42 games.

The 7.45 PM kickoff will pit the Premier League games against the other blockbuster shows at the time in the UK – Strictly Come Dancing and X-Factor. Additionally, it will be interesting to see the attendance from away fans who would be travelling long distances. Football Supporters’ Federation chief executive Kevin Miles said more must be done to support away fans. “We do not want to see more games on live TV as this makes life increasingly difficult for away fans in particular,” he said. “Unfortunately an Ofcom ruling dictated that more games would be broadcast but the clubs must do more with their huge TV revenues to make things easier for travelling supporters.”

A single buyer will not be allowed to acquire more than 148 games in a single season with the auction for the rights slated to be held in February, if reports are to be believed. The rights to show free-to-air Premier League highlights, currently held by BBC, will form part of a separate broadcast package.