Clubs in the English Football League ( EFL ) will be given the chance to air their views about potentially scrapping the 3pm television blackout rule this summer.
The rule, which was brought into force back in the 1960s, prohibits live football from being shown on TV between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday. But with people's viewing habits changing and the Covid-19 pandemic seeing blackout rules temporarily axed, it has raised the prospect of Saturday 3pm games being made available to broadcast.
However, contrary to reports elsewhere, the EFL are not actively promoting this outcome. Instead, they insist clubs that wish to discuss the possibility can do so during this summer's AGM which takes place in June.
When football returned from the coronavirus-enforced break in June 2020, all EFL games were broadcast over the iFollow streaming service with fans locked out of stadiums. This included those taking place at 3pm on Saturdays.
That rule stayed in place for the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign, which took place almost entirely behind closed doors. It provided a much-needed income for many clubs, albeit considerably less than normal gate receipts.
The temporary rule was abolished for the start of the current season, with no restrictions on attendances inside grounds. This means a significantly lower amount of games are currently streamed over iFollow, effectively just midweek matches or games that are not being broadcast by the league's broadcast partner Sky Sports. Speaking back in October, the EFL's chair Rick Parry refused to rule out the prospect of the law being scrapped.
He said: “I don’t see (an end to the blackout) as being essential. Having said that, I don’t necessarily rule it out. We are almost unique in Europe now in having a blackout period. I’m not presuming that it goes, but equally, if we’re looking at streaming, at new technologies and new broadcasters, we will probably have to be open-minded in terms of scheduling."
Any proposals to scrap the rule would have to be passed by UEFA. Across the three tiers of the EFL, opinions on the subject are very much mixed. Bradford City CEO Ryan Sparks told i news he was in favour of the 3pm blackout being axed.
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He said: “I know there’s people asking: ‘Will away fans still come?’ It’s a fear for League One or League Two clubs but they are two different markets. People who want to go to away games will still go to away games – the numbers don’t change when we have midweek games that are on iFollow. What you do get is a not inconsiderable extra revenue stream from those who wouldn’t go to the game but buy an iFollow pass. It is about opening up that new revenue stream.”
In contrast, The Football Supporters Association chairman Malcolm Clarke said earlier this season he saw “no reason" to change the current broadcasting rules.
Another element of the discussion is the fact that the EFL's existing TV deal with Sky Sports, who this season will show a total of 228 live games, is due to end in 2024. It was recently announced that ITV had won a two-year deal to show highlights of the competition, starting from next season.
