New Premier League TV deal to include 7.45pm kick-offs on Saturdays and up to 200 live games

The number of live games on TV is set to rise from 168 to around 200
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James Olley8 December 2017

The Premier League has offered broadcasters the chance to show entire rounds of midweek and Bank Holiday matches in addition to Saturday night football as it seeks an increase on the £5.14billion television deal.

The rights for the next three-year cycle beginning in 2019 have been outlined in a tender document ahead of the bidding process which will begin in the New Year and features a total of 200 out of the League’s 380 matches available to air, an increase of 42 on the existing agreement.

For the first time, three complete rounds of 10 midweek matches and one set of Bank Holiday games will all be shown live.

A further eight matches will kick off at 7.45pm on Saturday evenings as domestic football seeks a share of the primetime audience dominated by shows including The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing provided by terrestrial broadcasters.

Sky Sports paid £4.2bn to retain a dominant position in the marketplace last time with BT Sport supplementing the League’s income in a £960m agreement of their own.

There has been speculation for months that a tech giant such as Amazon, Facebook or Google could decide to enter the next bidding war, placing greater pressure on Sky and BT to maintain their presence in live football.

The 200 games will be divided into eight packages and this latest move to show entire rounds of games follows in the footsteps of both the English Football League and UEFA, who have regularly allowed every Champions League and Europa League tie to be broadcast.

The Saturday 3pm blackout remains, protecting the attendances for lower-league football, but the prospect of yet another sharp increase in revenue will prompt fresh concerns from the EFL and major European clubs, who have become frustrated at the Premier League’s global financial dominance.

The Premier League were this morning unavailable for comment.

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