The Reason for the 3pm Saturday Blackout

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The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world. Mega TV rights deals have meant that fans across the planet can sit down at 3pm GMT on a Saturday and watch the games unfold.
Except in the UK…
But why? As Seb Stafford-Bloor explains, a little-known legislation is preventing fans in their own country watch Premier League games live. Illustrated by Henry Cooke.
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Tifo loves football. We create In-depth tactical, historical and geopolitical breakdowns of the beautiful game.
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Music sourced from epidemicsound.com
Additional footage sourced from freestockfootagearchive.com
#PremierLeague #EPL #TVrights

[@RgillMr]

I spent a year living in Canada when I was younger and I could watch more English football with the basic TV package (3pm matches included) than I can in the UK after shelling out 90 quid a month to various companies!

[@alexburky9124]

That’s how it was here in the states. It’s changed though with streaming services buying everything they can. Champions League was a disaster at one point, terrible app, too expensive, pure greed seeping over

[@clintstewart5545]

so many streams you can watch for free , viprow for instance , never paid a dime watch all the games

[@HotChilliePa]

Unfortunately this isn't true anymore, as we've become victims of exclusive streaming rights and now no matches are shown on basic broadcasters

[@bear1245]

Sky are ball bags

[@clintstewart5545]

@@HotChilliePa illegal streams they everywhere , nothing feels more satisfying than watching sky for free

[@donovanmiller8318]

Fun fact: the reason games are on at Saturday 3pm is, because of working hours laws a hundred years ago, a full week for workers would end at Saturday 2pm, meaning everyone had an hour to get to the ground, get in their kit, and start playing at 3

[@marknewbold2583]

You think league football started a 100 years ago?

[@shipclip1092]

@@marknewbold2583 No? When did he ever say that lmao

[@ijmctfc6507]

@@marknewbold2583 The first ever league football season was 1888-89 so yes.

[@TheMuldoonFella]

@@marknewbold2583 alright mister fact check, whats the exact amount of time between now and when it started?

[@Never-you-mind]

@@TheMuldoonFella 139 yrs

[@TwistedSoul2002]

They could trial abolishing the blackout for 2 years and see how it affects stadium attendance, then review- they don’t need to make an absolute decision right now.

[@captainwilts2244]

(Apologies if this a joke and I’m missing the joke) but they kind of did when COVID hit, the blackout was removed and it was great! But they decided to keep the blackout once people could come back into stadiums. I’d imagine they’re just going to wait until the next TV contract comes around and just give the 3pm rights to Amazon

[@arsenalrocka16]

@@captainwilts2244 or DAZN potentially

[@MrSniperfox29]

It's not just the top division attendances you have to consider, but the entire league ( and non-league) as a whole. If Bob supports Man United, but goes to watch Oldham on a Saturday because he can't watch United on TV, removing the blackout would hurt Oldham.

[@ChatmakGames]

@@MrSniperfox29 if bob is a paying customer who would rather watch United on TV than go see Oldham he should be perfectly within his rights to do that

[@TwistedSoul2002]

@@captainwilts2244 Covid was different- our only option was to watch on TV. The trial I suggested would measure the impact of televised games on crowd attendance. The data obtained during lockdown is skewed because of the lack of options.

[@TheDeathJesters1337]

It annoys me that the country that has the least amount of Premier League games available to watch on TV is the country that actually hosts the league. Not to mention the ridiculous prices of sports TV packages like Sky and BT. So much for football being the game of the people. I'm glad there are "alternatives".

[@sbarron9680]

It applies to here over in Ireland too, it's a joke especially when your trying to watch 5pm Serie A games or La Liga games for example, they don't show broadcasting till 5:15 pm

[@clintstewart5545]

Use streams

[@Dontknockmedown]

Yeah, that's the most annoying feature, a huge title-deciding European game that starts 20 minutes into the game

[@clintstewart5545]

@@Dontknockmedown VIPROW Solves your problems or futemax multicanais, freestreams

[@Dare2defy100]

Apart from the Premier League, in which we get 1 3pm kick off every Saturday. The only way to watch European games at 3pm is through streams, from either betting sites or otherwise

[@muttsy13]

Its a digrace if you want to watch serie a at 5pm bt sports say they cant yet they show the feed in ireland even though they go against league of ireland on a friday night

[@JJJackson777]

I've said it before but the music in Tifo's vids have been consistently cool & calming, it's a small thing, but it makes a big difference

[@GrownUpKid94]

Wait until you discover Summoning Salt.

[@JJJackson777]

@@GrownUpKid94 is that a drug or an artist lmao

[@naopako]

i like how strategically positioned are those balls at the end of the video

[@leandrogripp1251]

It was foreshadowing the Manscaped ad to come

[@AzureSkyes]

What you don't mention here is the ability now of fans of Premier League clubs to watch 3 PM games via illegal streaming, which many do. The 3 PM bkackout is an antiquated idea whose time - if it ever existed - has gone. It's now just a massive inconvenience and needs to go. It's depressing how badly run so many things are in this country.

[@jacobmoore1640]

Just go watch your team in the ground

[@Demetriiuz]

@@jacobmoore1640 assuming you can get tickets, afford the tickets, afford the travel, have the time and live locally to your team.

[@bigmac7221]

@@jacobmoore1640 often that’s just swapping one illegal activity for another (touting).

[@TheWaveGoodbye-Music]

@@jacobmoore1640 that'd be nice, but what if you live in a different country? It's not so easy for everyone to just go

[@jacobmoore1640]

@@TheWaveGoodbye-Music if you live in a different country why would you support that team unless you’ve moved away

[@jameshogg11]

Always found it bizarre that my friend in Colombia was texting me about the 3pm Arsenal game he was watching on TV over there but I was having to listen to on the radio ☺

[@jamesgolightly5320]

The attendances we get in tiers 4 and 5 are so far above that of other countries it’s insane. Is that because of the blackout, I don’t know.

[@BabsW]

No. It's due to English culture- where England is the birthplace of football. The experience of watching football in a stadium and on TV is completely different- especially in the lower tiers. A fan of a Premier League club is almost never going to watch a League 2 or Non-league team solely because his PL team's match isn't legally on TV.

[@stephenstanley266]

@@BabsW Massively disagree with this. As a non-league fan, almost every single fan of that club has a premier league equivalent club that they support, but don't watch due to the blackout and come to the game instead.

[@BabsW]

@@stephenstanley266 They're hardly PL fans then. There are countless illegal streams and VPNs to watch PL matches.

[@stephenstanley266]

@@BabsW You're hardly a fan of your club if you're not going to the games and watching illegal streams.

[@BabsW]

@@stephenstanley266 I live in the US. I watch legally on TV. And since I know I wouldn't be able to afford an amazing seat, I prefer to watch matches on TV anyway.

[@Alex-eg2jk]

Only recently found out about the blackout, seems like such a bizarre rule

[@mcbrodz1663]

It’s bizarre but it’s explainable

[@lonestarr1490]

I literally _just_ found out about the blackout (by virtue of this very video). And yes, i seems like a bizarre rule to me too.

[@lonestarr1490]

@@BarryRerack147 With that way of reasoning you could as well argue that TV should not show any movies, so that people go to the cinema instead. Plus, I deem it highly debatable whether the surplus of people attending Chesterfield vs Wycombe on a wet Saturday afternoon because they couldn't watch Man United vs Liverpool instead is of any significance at all.

[@arya6085]

@@lonestarr1490 they will do exactly what they did with bundeliga here. Premier league will get priority, lower leagues will kick off at awkward times. Supporting my local club is easy because they almost always kick off saturday at 3pm. Maybe if you supported yours you wouldn't have this problem.

[@Ese96Agoaye]

I recall Eleven Sports arguing against the blackout a few years ago, saying the method is “outdated” in the current times.

[@Sasquatch10]

I'm a barca fan and i remember this. There was a big game in La Liga and they went against the rule and showed the game. They must have been hit hard though because i remember later in the season the El Clasico was due to kick off at 3:15 on a Saturday and they didn't show it.

[@henryreturns1397]

What year was it? What I remember is that every clasico was broadcast around the 90s+

[@Sasquatch10]

@@henryreturns1397 this was much more recently, like the last 3 or so years

[@Negativvv]

If a virtual season ticket as in a streamed service for all one's club existed then I'd completely be up for buying it...

[@andrewsutherland7913]

Schedule arrangements can be strange. Southend United regularly request they do not play at home on the same day as West Ham to avoid an attendance drop, which occasionally results in Friday night games.

[@Dannyjones1]

The amount of people that still can watch and find a way is incredible.

[@paulclifford6751]

If people are illegally streaming the 3 pm kickoff anyway it makes sense to tap into the potential revenue by having it on Sky/BT sport, right? Seems silly really.

[@michaelscott7166]

Most people I know don't stream illegally out of necessity, they do so because they don't want to pay.

[@beanoboy62]

@@michaelscott7166 not gonna lie mate, it may be true of older generations but I do not know a single football fan under 30 who doesn't regularly pirate games. It's not even remotely hard

[@Never-you-mind]

@@beanoboy62 I make i a thing where I’ll watch 1 a night because it’s that easy. You find yourself watching Ghanaian 5th division football when there’s nothing on

[@beanoboy62]

@@Never-you-mind literally, there are so many websites streaming it that it's probably impossible to stop. You sound a bit more committed than me 😂, but yeah why not if you can

[@Never-you-mind]

@@beanoboy62 something to fall asleep to doesn’t cost me anything 😄

[@themindofben]

(also huge fan of the little Steve Bruce / Barnes reference with Leddersford Town in this one lads)

[@garethcolthart5586]

I think there are 3 countries that use the ruling, it’s England, Scotland and Serbia. Feels very dark ages to still use it. Just seeing a comment below saying Ireland uses it as well

[@teomargetic1018]

Serbia? I am from Serbia and all Super liga games are televised and the British style 3pm kick offs don't exist here. Another thing is attendences in Serbia are very low in general.

[@michaelmaclean]

Yeah they seemingly said the blackout is a uniquely English thing but I'm pretty sure Scotland is the exact same. Our FA Cup is the only Saturday 3pm game allowed to be shown.

[@Knifeys]

This is why I stream it for free from various countries thanks to the power of the internet.

[@macsidia]

What annoys me in this day of age is we don't have all 380 PL games televised. It was good during the height of the pandemic after project restart and the 20/21 season then it returned back to normal for 21/22.

[@kudamanjonjo55]

Haha. Africans via Supersport do

[@willabernathy7364]

We do this in American football but only if the home stadium is under 85% capacity. However the rule is suspended Right now and they will probably permanently remove it

[@charaznable1131]

2:18 the Glaser's make their appearance again in a tifo vid

[@haaspaas2]

In my experience the stadium-going crowd and the loyal television crowd are two entirely different groups of people. Shutting the television crowd out from games does nothing but frustrate the audience. It was already a backwards rule when it was first instated, and it is even more so now.

[@ging23456]

You didn’t just use the phrase “loyal television crowd” seriously did you?

[@dalecn2417]

@@ging23456 he's not wrong people move all around the country theres a lot of loyal supporters who are TV based that simply just can't afford costs or travel time. Frankly it's down right direpectful to call them unloyal just because they can't afford to spend 1000s of pounds a year following there club

[@ging23456]

@@dalecn2417 I mean that only really applies to prem clubs as the other league have Ifollow and mainly we're talking about the big clubs. Then question why people support united and liverpool in london for the most part? Not really out of loyalty when they could actaully be loyal to their local. Look at Manchester. Oldham and Bury financially ruined and clubs destroyed/dead. You're telling me the 500,000 in the city and Old trafford can hold what 70k? 20k of those supporting Bury and Oldham would have clubs in different states if they really loved football. Secondly alot of people I know who support a team and had season tickets previously just kept their season tickets and go to games when they can and sell the others when they can't. This streaming at 3pm has only been a thing the last 10 years people would watch soccer saturday so whats the issue they were happy supporting their club then?

[@Danimal28]

I'm an Englishman who spends his time between Texas and the Cayman Islands. It's amazing over here as we're 6 hours behind, 9am kick offs before your weekend starts, literally any game you want. The commentary isn't the best mind.....

[@michaellarkin6158]

Similar thing used to happen in Australian cricket. If the ODI was in Sydney, the sydney broadcast would cut at 4 pm, and you'd miss the game

[@tedvandross1984]

I like it, quite often i'll go and watch a local non league game on Sat at 3pm, but if there was a big game on at the pub i'd prob do that more times, so it does work. It should stay, the premier league tends to schedule bigger games for TV slots. We have much better lower league attendances than anywhere else, that's a good thing, it works.

[@MrDan708]

"Because we've always done it that way!" sounds like the bottom-line answer.

[@arya6085]

Abolish the blackout -> kick off times for lower leagues are moved around to facilitate prem viewing -> supporting my local club becomes super irritating because of plastic who don't support their's.

[@villanalytics1951]

I hate this rule so much. Fans that regularly go to games will not stop doing that if every game is on TV because the reason they go is the whole experience of being there. Would make so much more sense to just televise every game 🤦‍♂️

[@michaelscott7166]

As someone who goes to a lot more away games than home games. I'd be more for it if it meant that every weekend game kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday. Getting to grounds by public transport can be a nightmare for early kick offs on a Sunday. Likewise getting back from late kickoffs on Friday and Saturday can be difficult.

[@mattpalmer6071]

Lots of people attending lower league games often attend as an addition to supporting EPL teams. Televising the EPL games could be potentially very damaging to lower league attendances

[@robert2690]

@@mattpalmer6071 Ok? Then televise non league games and force people to buy tickets to watch prem games in person... at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything to lower leagues.

[@cyrusnderitu1006]

Didn't know about this. Thanks Tifo👏

[@barnabyhands7723]

Imo the blackout should be changed so that no Premier League games should be held at 3pm. That way, the Prem and its clubs could maximise their profits from TV revenue, fans could see all games live on TV, but it would still give a time aside for lower league football to shine. It's always bothered me as both a Norwich fan and someone who loves non-league football, that a lot of non-league clubs miss out on revenue because their fixtures are scheduled at the same time as Prem games. Maybe more people would go to watch a Mulbarton Wanderers or a Norwich United if Norwich City weren't playing at 3pm

[@gadgetcakes]

Exactly this. It's so simple I'm shocked it's never been put in place. 1 match Friday night, 2 on Sat Midday, 2 late on Sat , 2 Sunday midday, 2 at 2pm Sunday, 1 at 4pm on Sunday. Plenty of time to get all the matches played, televised and not clash with Sat 3pm.

[@robert2690]

Thank you

[@robert2690]

Imagine if games start at 12pm, 12pm can be a non league game, then 2pm for lower division game, 4pm for 2nd division game, and 6pm being a premier league game like the main event.

[@doodleplop800]

I appreciate the use of Betamax as opposed to VHS.

[@jameshuggett]

Seriously???

[@Demetriiuz]

Needs to be binned now. Times have moved on. Just creating a market for pirate streams. When the extra TV revune to support lower league football

[@arya6085]

Nope, it'll just be like bundesliga where lower leagues have awkward kick off times. Supporting my local club is easy because almost every kickoff is saturday 3pm.

[@edwards5013]

It’s the fact that it’s easier to watch English football in other countries compared to here in England and We can watch cost an absolute arm and a leg to TV subscriptions this is why online an illegal streaming has become the normal

[@Zeviza]

The fact that you can access a game's highlights on KZbin moments after it finishes means I don't watch football on TV often, but it will never beat the atmosphere of watching the game live. I'd like to think that I'd attend a game regardless of any other way I can access a game.

[@n1kurd]

Still don't understand why the blackout was introduced

[@jackbland3406]

Another great video. Tifo team and the athletic are THE BEST in my opinion. Would love to see Tifo's take on Eddie Howe and the change he has made to NUFC, bringing them away from "bruceyball" and how some players have adapted and some not. And what Newcastle could look like come the start of next season considering the style Howe has brought to Newcastle. Alot of deadwood to be shifted and we've seen a massive player overhaul fail a few times... cheers guys!

[@ELL107JB]

Surely the bigger/modern day issue is people who will just stream the 3pm KO's. Just look at how streaming services such as Spotify have almost destroyed music piracy.

[@GeorgeSmithCoD]

All that ends up happening is more people are inclined to use pirated streams in the UK to watch US/CA streams of Prem matches, which leads to less money for clubs through TV deals as the pirated streams don't net the broadcasters any cash

[@WaniZame]

Exactly. I might consider not pirating if I could get a subscription where I could watch every game. It’s so archaic.

[@WaniZame]

@Adam Hetherington the Spanish salary cap system is such a good idea. Rather than limiting individual salaries you limit the sum total so you can still bring in the star players but don’t have a load of wasters chewing up big wages and have to push them out.

[@paulcurran9716]

The blackout HAS TO END. RIDICULOUS

[@ramprasad_v]

I am happy that a single provider streams all the 380 matches for 15 pounds (1500 rupees) in India 🙂

[@eatmoremusic3650]

As an American EPL fan I had never even heard of this, which is surprising to me with the amount of tifo and other football content I consume. As far as American broadcasts, NBC generally kills it and I’m glad they recently signed another contract extension

[@ryanakatu4332]

I know but why did the switch the channel

[@johanjonsson2190]

Wow. I never heard about this blackout before. Interesting

[@danielfurmage4381]

First of all was really enjoying the Boards of Canada background, and great video. It's a frustrating rule, but I can understand how non league and lower league teams might want to keep things as they are. Perhaps the best way would be to move all the Premier League games to say 5pm on a Saturday and keep all other leagues at 3pm? Or stagger all the league's to allow broadcasting without issue.

[@benpalmer7596]

That's one expensive Plymouth Argyle vs Leddersford Town ticket.. 🤣

[@no1fanofthepals]

Montenegro also has a television blackout on football.

[@philophos]

Someone tell them we all just stream those blackout games online. The internet is a special thing. The case study is live and everything is fine.

[@iain2298]

I love when people use graphics that make Northern Ireland look like an island

[@JimiCanRead]

I work on weekends so I would love it if matches were spread out a bit more so I’d be able to go to more

[@TheMushM]

Nice to see Holker Street getting a shout out!

[@HarryWessex]

I definitely checked if Newcastle vs Scunthorpe on Jan 25th 1958 was a real match

[@georgerogers1166]

Chicago Blackhawks is a great case study

[@ayoutubechannel7143]

Unless something has very recently changed, you forgot Scotland.

[@PickeringSamuel]

I wonder if football would be bigger or smaller than it is now if they didn't implement this blackout. My opinion is that football would be an even bigger phenomenon in the UK than it already is, and I think more people would have a season ticket for their local club.

[@Patrick-hm4eg]

Until 1973 in the USA all NFL games were blacked out in the home team market whether the games sold out or not. That slso applied to super bowls as well. In the usa we get at least three premier League games on Saturday two on cable (USA network) and one on Free to air NBC most weeks. NBC owns USA network.

[@Mango0fDoom]

Thankfully despite living in the UK I can watch 3PM games perfectly legally. (It's not my problem if the rights holders don't abide by their license agreement with the PL, I can pay them for a service). Anyone with a degree of technological knowledge is watching these games anyway. And we're not being ripped off. I pay about 20 pounds a month to access every PL game. This is not through dodgy streaming links plagued by ads and viruses, but through companies with professional, reliable infrastructure. I still go and watch games when I can get a ticket. But most of the time I can't. And I'm not going to watch a non league game instead...

[@harveyholmes9533]

I think if the blackout were to go the effect wouldn’t be felt immediately for most. Most games probably still wouldn’t be broadcast with at most the single camera angle that midweek championship games sometimes get on the red button. But I think long term it would be detrimental when the following generation is brought up with access to premier league games at 3pm on a Saturday it will be more likely for their culture to be watching the big teams on tv rather than going to watch lower levels of football in person

[@derekgray644]

yeah its not only England though is it? its the same up here with the exception of the odd cup final and more often than not those are moved to Sundays.

[@posner89]

the 3pm blackout needs to go its ridiculous. sat watching all games on a stream from usa ect. madness.

[@David1991.]

Foreign countries watching football streaming is rubbish.

[@OnlyTheJugg]

video suggestions: why you should be watching... freiburg why you should be watching... lens why you should be watching... real betis why you should be watching... barcelona sc (ecuadorian barcelona) a video on brendan rodgers’/michael laudrup’s swansea a video on pochettino’s southampton a video on why qpr didnt do well in 12/13 a video on erik ten hag’s utrecht a video analysing the 2021 copa libertadores final

[@riccorich]

England should have adopted the American Football model!! Saturdays College Sunday for NFL

[@ScottCBMusic]

The 'Big 6' will own their own broadcasting rights soon & charge a PPV per match. I doubt it'll be £14.99 right enough...

[@haworths623]

lol at the drawing of the hooligan

[@CJ_Yo_]

I've always been strangely fond of the "Saturday blackout", as well as being against early Sunday kickoff times. Although I think that's because I grew up with grassroots football, as well as attending football matches at a young age. I think it incentivises people to go out and watch football live, with lots of clubs in the lower tiers of the football league rely upon fans support. Especially when you play football yourself early on a Saturday or Sunday.

[@b4air]

The Most ridiculous thing in sports broadcasting... Almost prohibiting a Southampton fan who lives in Newcastle, or an Aston Villa fan who lives in London, to watch his/her team.

[@GTM9164]

As an American it’s crazy that this is a thing even ESPN+ is only $7 a month and you get all the game for 5 different league for soccer alone. Prem games are usually on tv at least 4 games per week with a regular tv package

[@ciaranmck4469]

Yeah there needs to be a proper study to determine whether it should stay or not I can see the reasoning for maybe the top prem teams for wanting the blackout especially if their attendance isn't amazing (I'm looking at man City) but for lower divisions its just a hindrance Then again American sports aren't the most ideal for fans due to the lack of relegation and promotion

[@GTM9164]

@@ciaranmck4469 looking purely at the finances tho attendance shouldn't matter considering TV/streaming deals. It would make more sense to do what the bundesliga does with different time for not top flight games. That's what the US does too. It makes no sense that Americans have twice the access to european games than you guys do for much cheaper.

[@robert2690]

@@ciaranmck4469 “Due to the lack of promotion and relegation” I disagree. The NBA and NFL model ensures that even small market teams gets a chance to compete with the top teams. Rules are in place so HELP small market teams like giving them draft picks to sign the best young player. Other rules like luxury tax so that if rich teams spend over the cap, they pay a tax for every million dollars they spend over the cap, a salary cap to make it fair for “small spenders” teams. Not every team has lots of money to spend so add in salary cap to make it fair for small market teams. Stuff like this improves competition, level the playing field for all team. If American League sports add in pro/rel, that’s going to destroy the small market teams and their chances of competing with the top teams. If they were to get relegated, can you imagine how it feels for a 5th tier English team that stays there for 10+ years? That’s not competition. How do you expect them to get to the premier league if they don’t have lots of money to spend like premier league teams?

[@robert2690]

@@GTM9164 Well, it is ESPN after all. Especially when some people work low wages. Maybe I’m wrong.

[@ciaranmck4469]

@@robert2690 very simple, if a lower tier English team are able to have owners who are rich enough to allow their profits to be eaten into you can have quite a menacing team. As for just naturally progressing well we've seen it happen, Liverpool is great example we came from the depths of the second division barely surviving relegation only to win the 1st division league after only 2 years since getting promoted. Or take Leicester for example who got promoted to the Premier league in 2014 a year after that famous Deeney goal then they won the league 2 years later in 2016 like how does that not prove your wrong? Also regarding about draft picks I mean more often than not those players get sold when they come into their prime anyway because why would they want to be playing in a team with less of a platform on the main stage? And do college teams even offer contracts with pay anyway lmao? I get what your saying teams lower down are still making money but what's the point in that if you can't regularly compete agasint the top teams? What's the point in improving their squad if they can't be in the same league sure they can play those teams in the NFC and AFC but if they can't compete in those leagues like what's the point? American football gets around this by having no actual sport pyramid but still what's the point in just 1 major professional league I don't understand it and why is that league closed wouldn't it be beneficial if these college teams became professional teams and were allowed to be promoted or better yet make new professional leagues under the NFL that is there to benefit newer teams, I get that American football is a monopoly but why the need to be a closed door? You ask any football fan in Europe from lower leagues why they support their team because they have the dream that one day they'll make it to the top and it does happen there are teams rn who were down in division 4 but are now fighting for a Premier league spot and if they get it they're able to make big money if not they're still able to make big money from play offs

[@lucasborja3797]

That is such a bad rule, things like that is why the Premier League still has a long way to go to top the NFL in terms of financial dominance

[@wmyates17]

If you go to any football league midweek game that clashes with a champions league fixture week, especially during the colder months, you can see the difference an option on tv has. Some clubs still survive mostly on ticket revenue and to get rid of the blackout while the pathetic football league tv deal is in place would place a lot of clubs into financial uncertainty. The blackout shouldn’t go unless the premier league and the tv companies agree to start providing greater finances to help them survive, otherwise to me the calls for it to go without that help are elitist and value the visibility of 20 clubs over the existence of hundreds of other clubs in England

[@LucasAndradeHD]

Make a video on Joelinton's new position. He's been a beast for a while now

[@xdz1039]

It's absurd to apply the blackout to other leagues. BT sport holds the Serie A rights in the UK and every bloody time you can't watch a part of the 5 pm game. Apply it only to UK leagues maybe, but for everything is just silly.

[@jsquared1013]

4:44 I have a feeling that graphic was entirely intentional 😆

[@themindofben]

we all dream of a team of joe devines

[@pratt7782]

Can we get a video on Xavi's Barca and how they're set up tactically?

[@robdavies8702]

You could still have the big games on “Super Sunday”, but still show the others - no one is choosing to watch Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (no disrespect to either club but it’s a typical Saturday 3pm game) over going to watch their local EFL team.

[@BT.jpeg_]

argyle vs ‘leddersford town’ tifo thinks so little of us 😔

[@camlog2393]

There is a correlation between those who dislike the rule and which clubs they are a fan of. 🤔

[@tomralph8540]

It's the reason 'Hesgoal' is a thing. Creating a 'Prem-flix' subscription service is the most obvious no-brainer I've ever seen. Literally everybody wins, especially if a portion of the profits go to supporting non-league teams.

[@jb5819]

Except the current rights holders....

[@beanoboy62]

@@jb5819 who gives a damn about them?

[@tomralph8540]

@@jb5819 You mean the rights holders that don't have the 3:00pm games anyway??

[@robert2690]

Thank you.

[@hegeliandianetik2009]

Growing up in Kenya it's hilarious to think I had more access to Prem football on TV than British fans, all games on one platform 'Supersport'

[@georgehtwells]

I’d like to see a video on why all premier league fixtures are played at the same time on the last day of the season

[@beanoboy62]

It's so all the drama happens at the same time so it all happens at once. There also might be something in there to prevent match fixing same as the final group game of the world cup

[@stockportlad8560]

Getting rid of the 3pm Blackout would be nothing but pandering to the plastics and glory supporters across the UK, my club is Stockport County and our attendances are excellent for the league we're and that is in part because people from Stockport who 'support' big Premier League teams despite us having our own team will come and watch us for live football as an alternative to watching a team on TV representing a city they have no affiliation with, however if these games were shown at 3pm and they could watch their 'own' teams then they would have very little incentive to go and watch their local teams.

[@DumbassPen]

Do they stream it or what

[@Hello-fx2rd]

The atmosphere in the stadiums is totally different to wtaching on TV. Can't hear the fan chants on TV.

[@benjaminguzman3428]

Let's go Barrow v Dag and Red made it on TIFO

[@balham5606]

The 2022 F A cup final should be 3 pm and not 5 pm

[@aetd106]

I feel away attendances will decrease - I'm a ticketed member of a rugby league club in Aus and try to make every home game, but am content enough watching away games at home. If they weren't on TV, I'd probably make more effort to go to away games in Sydney, but not having to deal with traffic, ticket prices, poor(er) facilities, etc. is definitely a reason to just watch those on TV. True fans will go to as many games as possible if they live in the same city as their club's ground, but away games are harder to sell.

[@firestarter1888]

I learnt this 25 years ago.

[@unclejacksbluewhitearmy]

3pm on a Saturday, there is no more perfect or natural time to go to an association football game. Football is to go to live, not watch on a TV.

[@stephenrobinson8244]

If the theory is true,an city's games must be show on a and free channel all the time 😂

[@leehaines5234]

Always nice to see dagenham and redbridge in a video can you do some non league content in future?

[@rhoddryice5412]

3:05 £3500 for Plymouth Argyle v Leddersford Town =)

[@BigPurp9]

I still think the 3pm blackout is dumb in the current climate with how easy it is to illegally stream football

[@connorwhite6514]

Surely then they could have a month or two to test 3pm televised pl games and analyse the effect

[@crazytacticsdave4017]

It matters not I just get a stream off the net nothing they can do to stop me.

[@seanmax5907]

Wait. So I'm not misunderstanding this. They actually play some PL games at 3pm but don't broadcast them in the UK?

[@frankfestus114]

They watch ,3 pm game now

[@Karanssidhu96]

Is that a quickly Kevin Steve Barnes Easter egg? 👀

[@ihzbc]

Please do a vidéo on Inter vs Liverpool ! 🙏 Klopp against inzaghi Epic battle ! 🤯💪

[@MrMaster7112765]

All the blackout achieves is making people more aware of illicit streaming platforms, people will watch the games regardless, legal or otherwise.

[@kicapanmanis1060]

The smaller clubs from lower divisions are the ones who are againts it fearing attendence drops. The higher division clubs dont mind it going away.

[@lifewithjames8663]

On the one side I understand why it's a thing and the logic behind it but it probably is a bit outdated now that people can easily stream any day they want. If Man United are playing Burnley at 3PM on a Saturday, then Armchair Andy will find a way to watch it even if it's not on regular TV. Likewise, if Dagenham Dave went to every Dagenham game home and away, he's not going to not go if they put Spurs V Arsenal on TV in a Saturday 3PM slot.

[@riffin632]

No the die hard Dagenham fan will of course go to game regardless however the Liverpool fan who lives 1km from the Dagenham stadium who occasionally visits his local club would definitely be put off from going if he could easily watch the Liverpool game from his sofa.

[@conor2683]

Fascinating to see how this law has lasted the entireity of television's lifespan Yet with television on the way out and streaming becoming frequent, will they change this law?