Two Premier League matches to be broadcast at same time and a Saturday night prime time game proposed in new TV deal

TWO Premier League matches could be shown live at the same time in the near future, with a prime time Saturday night game being considered.

And over HALF of the top flight’s 380 clashes could be shown live on telly, if new proposals come to pass from 2019.

Reuters

According to The Times, Premier League clubs are meeting next week to decide how many matches they will show live, with the number likely to increase.

And the proposed number range from 190 to 210.

Given the Uefa blackout rule – which means matches between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday cannot be shown – it could mean a further reduction in traditional Saturday 3pm kick offs.

At present 168 games are shown live.

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AFP

But recently Ofcom suggested that the Premier League should offer more choice to fans.

And when you compare the league with other major sporting organisations like the NFL or NBA, who show all their games live, it leaves room for opening up more broadcasting.

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The report also says that clubs are considering a ‘prime time’ Saturday night slot. Meaning games could compete with X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing for viewers.

The next television deal is expected to go out to tender after Christmas and the likes of Sky Sports and BT Sport could be forced to prepare themselves for bids from the Silicon Valley giants like Amazon, Netflix or Facebook, who have huge piles of cash to draw in new audiences.

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Sky and BT Sport paid a total of £5.1billion for their combined deal in 2015.

This next set of broadcast revenue has been a hotly debated, with the ‘big six’ clubs proposing a larger share of the pie, while officials from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool met in New York to discuss the deal.