Sky Sports higher-ups have suggested football is moving towards airing all 380 Premier League games in the UK, amid piracy concerns with the 3pm blackout.
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 06: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, during the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Villarreal at Emirates Stadium on August 06, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Speaking this week, Sky’s managing director Jonathan Licht suggested that the Premier League is moving towards airing all 380 matches each season, which is currently impossible with the 3pm blackout on Saturdays.
Though there won’t be any changes for the next four years, with an agreement already in place until 2029, Licht has hinted we might see changes after that.
“There’s clearly a direction of travel, or lots of conversation about Saturday 3pm,” Licht said. “I think that will perhaps increase – this is day one of a new four-year cycle.
“We are very pleased with the increase in volume and the choice that [we] will bring to fans. We are not at 380 Premier League games, but it is a conversation that is coming, that’s for sure.
“It’s fair to say that Saturday 3pm has been a point for piracy coming into this market from various places.”
arsenal v villarreal pre season friendly
Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images
Gary Neville agreed with Licht, pointing out that supporters want to be able to watch every game, as fans overseas are already able to do.
“When you go to different parts of the world, obviously you can watch every game of football in the Premier League, and it’s getting to that point now, where fans want to watch every single game,” Neville said.
Airing every game doesn’t necessarily have to mean ending the 3pm blackout. But the alternative is moving all matches outside of that 3pm timeslot, into early morning and late evening slots on Saturdays, or on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays.
None of those options are particularly appealing to matchgoing fans. The 3pm games are a lot easier to travel to than games on weekdays or at 7/8pm on a Saturday or Sunday, as is becoming increasingly common in recent seasons.
LONDON, ENGLAND: Christian Norgaard of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Jakub Kiwior during the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Villarreal at Emirates Stadium on August 06, 2025. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images
The best solution for fans of top-flight teams is that the blackout ends, but lower-league clubs are always going to be unhappy about that option. There’s a strong belief that lower-league attendances would be hurt if fans had the option to watch Arsenal on TV at 3pm instead.
Yet the modern football fan wants to watch their team week in, week out. If they can’t do so legitimately, they’re more likely to turn to piracy than to head out to watch their local lower-league team instead.
It’s a problem that still needs solving, and not one we’ll see any resolution to until the very end of the decade at the earliest.
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