Sunderland learned their fixture schedule for the new campaign on Wednesday morning
The Premier League have warned Sunderland fans to expect significant disruption to the fixture list this season as a result of the increase in teams playing in European competitions.
Sunderland’s fixtures for the new campaign were released on Wednesday morning, with the Black Cats beginning their campaign at home to West Ham United. That game will take place at 3pm on Saturday, August 16th - but a raft of games thereafter will likely be moved for TV coverage. That’s partially due to a new TV deal coming into force for next season, which will Sky Sports increase the number of games it broadcasts live. It’s also due the fact that nine teams are set to take part in European competitions, which will likely see more games than ever shift to a Sunday.
A Premier League statement on Wednesday advising supporters said: “A considerable impact is made by UEFA competitions. Competition organisers look traditionally to give clubs at least two clear days between matches. So Champions League matches taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings may not affect the Saturday 15:00 slots, but they can influence the dates for which Sky or TNT can select them. A team playing on a Tuesday in the Champions League, for example, cannot play on the preceding Sunday in the Premier League.
“Similarly, because the UEFA Europa League and Conference League matches take place on Thursday evenings, the Premier League clubs participating in those competitions cannot play on the Saturdays following those matches. There are an unprecedented NINE clubs in European action this season – six in the UEFA Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League – and there will be many Premier League weekends which have UEFA matches in midweek either side of them.
“Premier League matches may also move if and when clubs progress into the later rounds of the FA Cup. The FA Cup semi-finals and final are scheduled on weekends when a Premier League round of fixtures also takes place.”
All of Snnderland’s non 3pm are set to be televised this season, with each of the five rounds of midweek fixtures to be broadcast in full by either Sky Sports or TNT Sports.
When TV selections are set to be announced this season
The Premier League has told fans that they are again committed to trying to give six weeks notice of fixture changes for TV coverage before January, and five thereafter. They have also issued their approximate dates for announcing TV selections, which you can see below:
- Matchweeks 2-6 (August and September) - 9th July
- Matchweeks 7-9 (October) - 20th August
- Matchweeks 10-13 (November) - 17th September
- Matchweeks 14-24 (December and January) - 15th October
- Matchweeks 25-28 (February) - 17th December
- Matchweeks 29-31 (March) - 21st January
- Matchweeks 32- 34 (April) - March 4th
- Matchweek 35 - March 25th
- Matchweek 36 - April 1st
- Matchweek 37 - April 8th
- Matchweek 38 - Post matchweek 37
Continue Reading