The Premier League is to substantially increase the number of live matches available on TV in the UK, with 270 to be screened by broadcasters each season from 2025.
The league confirmed on Wednesday that it had launched a tender process for its next round of domestic TV rights, an auction it hopes will deliver a boost in revenues after its most recent deal, first struck in 2018, was rolled over during the pandemic.
Broadcasters will be encouraged to bid on five packages that will run for four seasons each. The expanded number of fixtures will increase the total number of live matches from 200. For the first time, all fixtures played at 2pm on a Sunday will be available to screen. The Premier League said this increase will allow for the preservation of the traditional Saturday 3pm blackout.
The offer to broadcasters is familiar but reveals some of the changes in the market since the Premier League last went to tender. The number of live packages on offer has been slimmed down from the last auction when two of the seven packages failed to find a home at the first time of asking. The extra year on the deal will also offer greater security to broadcasters in a time of industry turbulence.
The Premier League opted not to introduce new kick-off times to their schedule, with the packages built around established start times at 12.30pm and 5.30pm on Saturday, 2pm and 4.30pm on Sunday, as well as one of 8pm on either Monday or Friday. There will, however, be one added round of midweek fixtures, which will be sold as a block, following on from the model in which Amazon broadcasts all 10 Boxing Day fixtures live. A free-to-air highlights package, which is held by the BBC, will remain part of the mix.
The value of the Premier League’s domestic TV rights under its existing three-year deal is estimated at £5bn. This is roughly the same figure as in 2016, and executives will be hoping that the planned expansion in both the number of matches and the length of the deal will lead to a growth in revenue.
