Premier League football is set to return on 17 June after a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic and all of the remaining 92 matches will be broadcast live in the UK across Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Prime Video.
In a statement, shareholders of England’s top flight have agreed to a new provisional restart date for the 2019/20 season of Wednesday, 17 June, provided that all safety requirements are in place.
The UK Government must still give the green light for the league season to get back underway, but football fans can now begin to look forward to resumption of top-flight football, after what by then will have been a break of more than three months, with the English professional game having been shut down since 13 March.
Due to COVID-19, all forthcoming matches will take place behind closed doors, starting with Aston Villa against Sheffield United on 17 June and Manchester City taking on Arsenal, both of which are rearranged matches from earlier in the season.
This will mean all 20 clubs will have played 29 matches heading into the weekend of 19-21 June, when the rest of the top flight will be in action, should everything proceed safely.
In an unprecedented move, Premier League shareholders have also agreed that all 92 remaining matches to be played in the 2019/20 season will be broadcast live across the league’s existing broadcast partners – Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and the BBC – with 33 of those matches available to watch free-to-air.
The planned kick-off times in the UK for live matches will also differ from the traditional times, with the traditional 3pm blackout having been lifted by UEFA in April. Details below:
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Weekend matches (all times BST):
- Friday – 8.00pm
- Saturday – 12.30pm, 3.00pm, 5.30pm, 8.00pm
- Sunday – 12.00pm, 2.00pm, 4.30pm, 7.00pm
- Monday – 8.00pm
Midweek matches (all times BST):
- Tuesday – 6.00pm, 8.00pm
- Wednesday – 6.00pm, 8.00pm
- Thursday – 6.00pm, 8.00pm
Allocation of LIVE TV matches
- Sky Sports – 64 matches (25 matches simulcast on Pick)
- BT Sport – 20 matches
- BBC Sport – 4 matches
- Prime Video – 4 matches (all free to view)
For the first time since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, the BBC will broadcast live games on terrestrial television upon the league’s return in June.
Four live games in total will air on BBC One, which will also broadcast its usual regular Match of the Day highlights programmes.
Before the Premier League era, the last time a top-flight league football match was broadcast live on the BBC was 32 years ago, during the 1987/88 season.
The last traditional free-to-air broadcaster to show live top-flight Division One matches was ITV back in 1991/92, while Sky’s Pick channel has simulcast occasional Premier League matches to free-to-air audiences in recent years.
Commenting on the agreement to bring live Premier League football to the BBC for the first time, Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said:
“This opportunity creates an historic moment for the BBC and our audiences. At a time when sports fans across the country are in need of lift, this is very welcome news.
“We are delighted and excited to have the chance to show live Premier League games on the BBC.
“This will offer audiences, who haven’t had the opportunity in the past, live, free to air access to the best football league in the world, as the BBC continues to keep the country entertained during these unprecedented times.”
Sky Sports will show 64 of the season’s remaining fixtures, with 25 of those to made available free-to-air via its Freeview channel Pick, including Everton against Liverpool on first weekend back.
To mark the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports says it will also launch a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.
Stephen van Rooyen, Sky CEO and EVP, UK and Europe, said:
“The return of live sport is a big moment for the country, and we want the nation to join us. Sky has partnered with the Premier League clubs for nearly thirty years, and the strength of our partnership has never been more important. Our commitment to showing 25 matches ‘free to air’ for the first time in the history of Sky Sports recognises the unique times we are in, and our desire to play our part.
“We have developed some terrific new innovations to give football fans the very best experience of watching live sport, when going to the match with family and friends isn’t possible, and we look forward to sharing these with football fans shortly.”
BT Sport has confirmed that it will broadcast 20 Premier League games live until the end of the season.
Unlike Sky, BT has no plans to make any of its matches free to watch at this stage, but as a goodwill gesture it will give subscribers a 50% credit of their June subscription fee, to make up for the lack of major live sporting action during lockdown.
In a statement, BT Sport said:
“We’re delighted to see the provisional plan to restart the Premier League next month.
“Should all proceed safely, we look forward to broadcasting 20 Premier League games to our BT Sport customers.”
Prime Video has announced that it will make its four Premier League games free-to-air when the season restarts.
Fans will not need a Prime membership to watch its live matches via the online streaming service when the top-flight campaign resumes from 17 June.
Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe, said:
“Like the rest of the country, we are excited to see the Premier League return to action. We will be making all four of Amazon Prime Video’s additional fixtures in the 2019-20 season available free of charge; fans will not need a Prime membership to view the games on Prime Video.”
Before the season was suspended due to coronavirus, Sky Sports had 39 Premier League games left to broadcast. BT Sport had 8 remaining matches, while Prime Video had already broadcast its two packages of 20 matches in December.
All being well, fans can look forward to a bumper summer of wall-to-wall Premier League action, with every match broadcast live and around a third of those available to watch via free-to-air channels.
Commenting on the restart, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said:
“Today (28 May) we have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday 17 June. But this date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority.
“Sadly, matches will have to take place without fans in stadiums, so we are pleased to have come up with a positive solution for supporters to be able to watch all the remaining 92 matches.
“The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters. It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home. We will continue to work step-by-step and in consultation with all our stakeholders as we move towards resuming the 2019/20 season.”
UPDATE (5 June): The Premier League has officially confirmed the fixture schedule and live TV coverage split for the first three match rounds of the 2019/20 season resumption, providing all safety requirements are in place.
Full details of when and where to watch live Premier League matches on Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC and Prime Video, up to 2 July, can be found below.
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WEDNESDAY 17th JUNE
Aston Villa v Sheffield United
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18:00 |
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Manchester City v Arsenal
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20:15 |
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FRIDAY 19th JUNE
Norwich City v Southampton
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18:00 |
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Tottenham v Manchester United
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20:15 |
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SATURDAY 20th JUNE
Watford v Leicester City
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12:30 |
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Brighton v Arsenal
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15:00 |
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West Ham v Wolves
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17:30 |
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Bournemouth v Crystal Palace
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19:45 |
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SUNDAY 21st JUNE
Newcastle United v Sheffield United
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14:00 |
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Aston Villa v Chelsea
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16:15 |
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Everton v Liverpool
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19:00 |
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MONDAY 22nd JUNE
Manchester City v Burnley
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20:00 |
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TUESDAY 23rd JUNE
Leicester City v Brighton
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18:00 |
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Tottenham v West Ham
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20:15 |
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WEDNESDAY 24th JUNE
Manchester United v Sheffield United
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18:00 |
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Newcastle United v Aston Villa
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18:00 |
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Norwich City v Everton
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18:00 |
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Wolves v Bournemouth
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18:00 |
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Liverpool v Crystal Palace
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20:15 |
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THURSDAY 25th JUNE
Burnley v Watford
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18:00 |
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Southampton v Arsenal
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18:00 |
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Chelsea v Manchester City
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20:15 |
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SATURDAY 27th JUNE
Aston Villa v Wolves
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12:30 |
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SUNDAY 28th JUNE
Watford v Southampton
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16:30 |
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MONDAY 29th JUNE
Crystal Palace v Burnley
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20:00 |
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TUESDAY 30th JUNE
Brighton v Manchester United
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20:15 |
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WEDNESDAY 1st JULY
Arsenal v Norwich City
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18:00 |
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Bournemouth v Newcastle
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18:00 |
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Everton v Leicester
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18:00 |
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West Ham v Chelsea
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20:15 |
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THURSDAY 2nd JULY
Sheffield United v Tottenham
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18:00 |
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Manchester City v Liverpool
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20:15 |
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