English football's 3pm blackout is a well established tradition, with no matches being shown on British television between 3pm and 5pm on a Saturday, with the original aim of increasing attendance of matches across the pyramid by not showing Premier League football on television.
However, this may now be under threat, with the addition of the new MLS Season Pass to the package of subscriptions with which fans based around the globe can watch football. The service, launched in conjunction with Apple TV has been established with the aim of providing more than 100 countries with a comprehensive service to include no blackouts.
Fans will be able to subscribe to the service for a monthly or yearly MLS Season Pass with prices starting from £12.99 for anyone who already subscribes to Apple TV+. This follows in the footsteps of the already established La Liga TV and offers a glimpse of the future for British football fans.
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The service will be available across a wide range of platforms including phones, TVs and tablets, with MLS kicking off on February 25. It will provide English and Spanish commentary for all live matches as well as providing in-depth analysis and highlights available on demand.
The streaming model provides a threat to the traditional structure of football broadcasting in the UK which covers clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, with more flexibility and less legislation governing what times football can be aired. Given the direction of travel for football and sport in general, it may not be long before we will see similar services for English football, with the iFollow service already in place for EFL clubs.
Sky currently hold the rights to broadcast Premier League football through until 2025 alongside BT Sport, but they will now face additional competiton through streaming services via Apple or Amazon Prime. In addition to this, a new football regulator is planned by government following the Fan Led Review published in 2021, with the 3pm blackout one of the talking points up for discussion.
The first weekend of MLS action will be completely free to watch via the Season Pass and all games will be streamed live with no blackouts in between.
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