Premier League Commits to Broadcasting All Matches Until Fans Return

Back in October, the Premier League decided to try and recoup some of the money they were missing out on with the loss of ticket revenue by implementing a pay-per-view model for televised matches in the United Kingdom. Supporters were understandably outraged and many refused to pay £14.95 to watch a match.

Fortunately, the extreme backlash worked and the league rolled back this decision in November. At the time, they only committed to putting a hold on the pay-per-view format until the end of the year, leaving open the option to reinstate it in 2021.

There had been no word on if/when that would happen until today when the Premier League website posted a story confirming all matches for the remainder of the 2020-21 season would be available via the PL’s broadcast partners.

Additionally, they committed to showing all matches on television for as long as the UK government’s COVID-19 restrictions bar supporters from attending matches. This means the policy could carry over into the 21-22 season should the COVID-19 restrictions stay in effect when the new campaign begins in August.

This seems like an obvious, easy way for the Premier League to make sure matches continue to be accessible for all of their domestic fans during a global pandemic. However, this is the league that thought adopting a pay-per-view model during said pandemic was a smart decision to begin with. So, it’s nice to have confirmation they won’t be reintroducing that mistake.