Ofcom probe could lead to more live Premier League matches on TV
Less than half of all Premier League matches are broadcast live in the UK, and Virgin Media believes that simply isn't good enough. After filing a complaint in September, Ofcom has agreed to investigate whether the low number of televised fixtures is breaching competition law and leading to higher prices for customers and broadcasters. At the moment, the Premier League sells live TV rights for 154 games (out of 380 each season) through a handful of different match bundles. Sky used to dominate this bidding war, but in recent years BT has muscled in by spending big on a couple of the League's key packages.
This is raising the overall cost of broadcast rights in the UK (great for the Premier League) and putting further pressure on Virgin Media, which licenses Sky and BT's coverage. The cable provider estimates that the price of TV rights could rise by 60 percent at the next auction, which providers will need to recoup. By adding more matches to these bundles, Virgin Media argues that viewers would get more for their money and could enjoy the same levels of live coverage as enjoyed by football fans in Germany, Spain, France and Italy.
Some of these fixtures could, in theory, come from the Premier League's divisive 3pm kick-off slot each Saturday. At the moment, a media "blackout" forbids British broadcasters from showing these games live, for fear they'll discourage people from attending football matches up and down the country. Ofcom says it's aware of the problem and will be talking to groups such as the Football Supporters' Federation to better understand it. With the Premier League's next auction fast-approaching, any Ofcom ruling will need to be made quickly, or implementation will be delayed until the following round. That would push a potential fix out to the 2019/20 Premier League season at the earliest -- so don't expect any sweeping changes anytime soon.
[Image Credit: Ronnie Macdonald, Flickr]
