(Bloomberg) -- The English Premier League has rolled out interim broadcast arrangements that will allow U.K. soccer fans to watch more games while the Covid pandemic keeps them away from stadiums -- at a cost.
Supporters of the U.K.’s 20 elite clubs will be able to pay for additional October matches on either of the BT Sport Box Office or Sky Sports Box Office platforms that would not otherwise have been broadcast.
BT and Sky will continue to offer subscribers their existing October schedule of matches and will charge £14.95 ($19.43) for each of the extra games they show, they said in separate statements Friday.
While the Premier League said in its statement that clubs agreed to the additional measures to enable all fans to watch their teams live, Friday’s announcement drew quick criticism from a top pundit at Sky.
Gary Neville, the former Manchester United player who now helps front Sky’s match-day coverage, tweeted: “This is a really bad move by the @premierleague to charge £14.95 for single matches that have been shown free for 6 months!”
A spokesman for Sky said that Neville was entitled to his own views and would always speak from his own perspective. A representative from the Premier League declined to comment on Neville’s tweet.
The Premier League will use the additional pay-per-view money to support its clubs, which have seen match-day sales evaporate because of the pandemic. In a report published in June, consultancy Deloitte estimated a roughly 1 billion-pound revenue hit for Premier League clubs in the 2019/2020 financial year.
Fans have been banned from attending matches live since the spring in a bid to help curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The Premier League said on Friday that it was “committed to the safe return of fans as soon as possible”.
Earlier: Sky, BT Plan New Premier League Pay-Per-View Service, Mail Says
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
POPULAR