Sky & BT reveal live Premier League games for March

by SOTB | @SportOnTheBox | January 21, 2015 10:00 am

Sky Sports and BT Sport have revealed which Barclays Premier League games they have chosen to broadcast in March as the season reaches a critical point for those at the top and bottom of England’s top flight.

Manchester United’s trip to Anfield, Chelsea’s home encounter with Southampton, and Crystal Palace’s clash against Queens Park Rangers are among the matches selected for live broadcast, with eight games to broadcast by Sky Sports, plus a further five on BT Sport, which includes the two March 1 matches announced in the previous selection covering February.

Sky’s live matches for March are headlined by Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, March 22.

That Anfield clash – with the Reds out to reverse a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in December – is one of seven live games featured in March and the action continues to come thick and fast as the Premier League moves into its crucial final period.

Sky Sports will show 50 live games between now and the end of the season, with at least three games on offer each weekend across the final eight rounds of fixtures.

Reigning champions Manchester City will also play in front of the Sky Sports cameras in March, making the short trip to Turf Moor for a Saturday Night Football tussle with a Burnley side that came from two goals down to claim a point at the Etihad in December.

The following day, Chelsea face a Southampton side out to follow up recent wins over Arsenal and Manchester United and keep their place in the top four, while the second instalment of Super Sunday sees Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur as the battle for the top spots heats up.

BT Sport will have a feast of football in March with five exclusively live Barclays Premier League fixtures, starting with Arsenal’s home clash against Everton, as well as at least two FA Cup Sixth Round clashes as the knockout competition reaches its last eight teams.

The channel’s Barclays Premier League games include a tricky midweek away trip to St James’ Park for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United. BT Sport will also feature current champions Manchester City at home to West Bromwich Albion.

In fact, the Baggies, under new manager Tony Pulis, will be shown twice, including their midweek game away to fierce Midlands rivals Aston Villa.

The line-up also includes an intriguing late season London derby, as Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace host fellow strugglers QPR in what could potentially be a key relegation survival fight.

The 2014/15 season marks the second year of both broadcaster’s three-year multi-billion pound TV deal with the Premier League, with Sky again screening 116 live games from England’s top flight and BT showcasing 38 live matches during the course of the season.

BSkyB paid a record £2.3 billion for 116 live Premier League games for three years from 2013-2016, including 20 first picks from the 38 rounds of matches, while BT paid £758 million for 38 games, including 18 first picks, although Sky gets to choose when it wants to exercise its first pick choices.

Sky Sports subscribers are set for 30 more live games between the end of March and May, and as the campaign reaches its climax, with Sky being the home of more than three quarters of all live televised fixtures for the remainder of the season.

Sky Sports’ head of football, Gary Hughes, said: “Players always refer to March and April as the months when teams make their move, and when they do that, Sky Sports will have it covered.

“With 50 games still to come this season on Sky Sports, we know that the defining moments will be on our screens. We have some fantastic fixtures in the Merseyside derby and Manchester United going to Anfield to name just two. There are many more to come before the end of the season.”

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “We have a packed schedule of quality football for March, including a few midweek games as well.

“We will be showing exclusively live Aston Villa v West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, March 3 and just 24 hours later, we ‘ll have Newcastle United v Manchester United, which will be an opportunity to see how the Magpies’ new manager is finding his feet, whether or not a replacement for caretaker John Carver is in place by then.

“Along with our Barclays Premier League matches, we’ll also have at least two exclusively live games from the 6th round of the FA Cup, when the last eight teams will be playing for a trip to a Wembley semi-final.”

Full details of March’s live Premier League games on the box can be found below.

FOOTBALL ON THE BOX – LIVE TV GAMES

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE 2014/15 – CONFIRMED LIVE GAMES

SUNDAY 1st MARCH

Liverpool v Manchester City