Premier League goes pay-per-view with games closed for…

Premier League goes pay-per-view with games closed for fans

Football fans will have to pay £14.95 per match to watch certain televised games from next weekend after the Premier League revealed a controversial new pay-per-view model to boost club finances.

At least 14 matches will be televised behind paywalls on BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office, and the fee will be required regardless of whether viewers are current Sky and BT Sport subscribers or club season-ticket holders.

All profits will go to Premier League clubs and not the broadcasters.

Until now, every Premier League match since lockdown ended has been televised in the UK across Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC while games remain behind closed doors.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville tweeted: “This is a really bad move by the @premierleague to charge £14.95 for single matches that have been shown free for 6 months!”

A Premier League statement read: "The Premier League today confirmed all fixtures until the end of October will continue to be made available to fans to watch live in the UK. Under these new arrangements, the current live match selections will remain in place and will be broadcast as normal. In addition, the five matches per round not already selected will be made available to supporters on a pay-per-view basis, accessed via BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office platforms.

"Clubs today agreed this interim solution to enable all fans to continue to watch their teams live. The Premier League has worked closely with Sky Sports and BT Sport to provide this arrangement and is grateful for their support. The agreement will be regularly reviewed in consultation with clubs and in line with any decisions made by Government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums. Football is not the same without supporters at matches.

“The Premier League and our clubs remain committed to the safe return of fans as soon as possible. An updated broadcast list of matches will be announced later today.”