Premier League: Games not selected for broadcast will be available on pay- per- view.

[Brin]

Premier League games not selected for broadcast in October will be available to fans on a pay-per-view basis.

The five fixtures per round not already picked to be shown live, will be available on BT Sport Box Office or Sky Sports Box Office, priced at £14.95.Clubs have agreed this "interim solution" to allow fans to continue watching their teams live.

Premier League clubs voted 19-1 in favour of the move, with Leicester City the only one to vote against it.
The Premier League said it and its clubs "remain committed to the safe return of fans as soon as possible".

Fans have been unable to attend Premier League games since football was halted on 13 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.The top flight resumed on Wednesday, 17 June with the remaining 92 games of last season being played behind closed doors and the opening games of this season have followed suit.

The Premier League and UK government had hoped to bring fans back into stadiums from 1 October but those plans were scrapped following an increase in coronavirus cases.BT Sport said fans without a subscription would still be able to access their Box Office service.

"With supporters still unable to return to stadiums, we want to help fans watch the games they would usually attend and clubs generate critical revenue," the broadcaster said.Former Manchester United and England right-back Gary Neville, now a television pundit, said on social media it was a "really bad move" by the Premier League.

In a statement, the Football Supporters' Association urged broadcasters to "reconsider their pricing".

"Today's announcement shows that fan power works," the FSA said. "At the start of this season the Premier League and its broadcasters had planned to leave match-going fans entirely locked out of their side's matches; now thanks to the sustained pressure of our #LetUsWatch campaign all games will be available for fans.

"Many Premier League clubs have already taken money from fans for matches they can't attend, so we urge them to get refunds out to those supporters as soon as possible, particularly season ticket holders.

"We've already heard from many supporters and FSA members who are concerned about the £15 per game being charged and we'd urge BT Sport and Sky Sports to reconsider their pricing for these games."

Alex Hurst, the chair of Newcastle United's Supporters Trust said: "The idea that Premier League clubs need to implement PPV because of economic needs would carry more weight if they hadn't just spent £1bn on players, furloughed staff, received government loans, weren't charging fans for games they aren't going to and hadn't just made thousands of staff redundant."

Supporters of EFL clubs can buy match passes to watch their teams for £10 using the iFollow service.

[Pattylallacks2]

BT, Sky and the Premiership - all greedy, blood-sucking bas tards.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

BT, Sky and the Premiership - all greedy, blood-sucking bas tards.

Agreed

I hope it fails

[ragingpup]

Is there that much of a difference between us paying a tenner and the Prem paying 15 for higher quality stuff? Can't say I have a huge problem with it although those who have paid for season tickets should have it for free.

[DK_NY]

Is there that much of a difference between us paying a tenner and the Prem paying 15 for higher quality stuff? Can't say I have a huge problem with it although those who have paid for season tickets should have it for free.

Yes. Our teams dont get £160m of tv money, so they need the revenue from the ifollow. Premier clubs dont need it, yet they have voted to charge their fans more money.

[MarkSimmons]

Yes. Our teams dont get £160m of tv money, so they need the revenue from the ifollow. Premier clubs dont need it, yet they have voted to charge their fans more money.

We get 7m in tv revenue and and prem solidarity payments combined which is why TS has said we are finacially better off playing in an empty stadium in the champ than in front of a few thousand in league one. Theres not much difference to me between what the prem are song and what the efl are doing. The only thing I find laughable is that quote about fan power bringing this about. There was never any other outcome here. Why would they have chosen to not sell their product? The threat of a blackout was in response for calls for them to give the addition games away for free.

[crookadile]

Yes. Our teams dont get £160m of tv money, so they need the revenue from the ifollow. Premier clubs dont need it, yet they have voted to charge their fans more money.

They aren’t charging the fans more though. They have a choice. They are not forced to pay it.

[ragingpup]

Yes. Our teams dont get £160m of tv money, so they need the revenue from the ifollow. Premier clubs dont need it, yet they have voted to charge their fans more money.

Fair point but their overheads are at a completely level and I guess without the income from tickets it will hurt many clubs in the prem, especially the smaller ones. At least this gives the fans a choice to be able to watch non broadcast games, but should be free for those who have paid already for a season ticket they can't use. Id be happier if it was less but considering the market, I think that the price is not a surprise and compared with stadium entry prices, most club fans will pay it.

[Stovicmiller]

Wouldnt pay to watch prem games. Not that interested.

[DK_NY]

Fair point but their overheads are at a completely level and I guess without the income from tickets it will hurt many clubs in the prem, especially the smaller ones. At least this gives the fans a choice to be able to watch non broadcast games, but should be free for those who have paid already for a season ticket they can't use. Id be happier if it was less but considering the market, I think that the price is not a surprise and compared with stadium entry prices, most club fans will pay it.

Correct in that it gives their fans the opportunity to watch non broadcast games. To be honest i didn’t know till this news broke that every prem game wasnt on either sky or bt. Seems inconceivable to me that this has been allowed to be the case given that we have a means to see all our games.
I’d have like to see an agreement where every game was shown (theres enough channels) for the fee fans currently pay to sky and bt. Its these subscriptions that have, over the last 20 years, made the prem and sky so rich.
Of course its none of my business really, as a rotherham fan who subscribes to neither product, just think its another bad decision by the rich at the top of the pyramid during a really bad year for the world in which they had an opportunity to ‘give something back‘ and chose not to.