It is now 200 of the 380 Premier League matches per season, but this will be increased to a mind-boggling 270!
To demonstrate the massive increase in the number of Premier League games sacrificed for UK live TV broadcast.
As late as the 2018/19 season, the third and last season of that agreement, ‘just’ 168 Premier League matches were televised live, accounting for 44% of the 380 PL games.
Currently, it is 200 of 380, or 52% of all Premier League matches; by 2025/26, it will be 270 of 380, or 71%.
Of course, this does not mean that every Premier League club will have 71% of their matches broadcast live (and moved!). The clubs that the broadcasters wish to show are chosen significantly more than the clubs that aren’t as popular with the broadcasters (and viewers), currently by far more than 52%!!!
Prior to the final Premier League match at St James’ Park against Burnley on 30 September, the only Newcastle United Premier League games not chosen for live UK transmission in 2023 were:
In reality, the Burnley encounter was the first Premier League home match played at 3 p.m. on a Saturday in 2023. The Southampton game in April was not televised but was played on a Sunday as a result of other Premier League clubs competing in Europe. While the Chelsea game occurred on the last day of the season, when all Premier League games are played on Sunday.
So, from 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2023, the only NUFC match played at 3pm on a Saturday was the Brentford away encounter in April.
Even when we were bad, Newcastle United was a popular choice for broadcasters; now that we’re good, that popularity has skyrocketed.
When all Newcastle United matches in all competitions from 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2023 are included, a whopping 31 of 34 games in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup have been aired live in the UK.
From 2025/26, I believe there will be almost no Newcastle United matches played at 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
The reality is that we have already arrived.
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