Premier League urged to follow spirit of Project Restart in TV blackout row
➤ Government backs call to air all games with limited capacities ➤ Intervention comes on eve of shareholders’ meeting today
The Premier League was last night under intense pressure to reverse its decision to block fans from watching 160 Premier League games on television this season after the Government urged it to “follow the spirit of Project Restart”.
As revealed by The Daily Telegraph, ministers staged a dramatic last-ditch intervention in the row over the refusal of the world’s richest league and its clubs to allow games to be screened to match-going supporters while fixtures continue to take place behind closed doors or at reduced capacity due to the coronavirus crisis.
The intervention followed the launch of a campaign, #Letuswatch, on the eve of today’s Premier League shareholders’ meeting, at which the backlash against the reimposing of a UK television blackout on more than 40 per cent of matches is expected to be discussed.
That reaction intensified last week following the selection of the first three rounds of live games, which saw every game involving Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City chosen, but none of Newcastle United’s or Burnley’s fixtures.
A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “Our focus is on working with the football authorities, safety and medical experts to get fans back in stadia as quickly as possible.
“It is for the Premier League and its broadcast partners to come to an agreement on screening matches. However, we urge them to follow the spirit of Project Restart and listen to clubs’ fans and consider what can be achieved in the meantime.”
Project Restart – the name bestowed upon the return of the Premier League behind closed doors last season following the suspension of football – saw all 92 games televised live on government orders, a third of them free-to-air. Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, secured that commitment from the league and its clubs, and although ministers have stopped short of demanding similar concessions again, their latest intervention could prove impossible to resist.
Prior to that, there had been huge reluctance to screen more than the 220 matches awarded to broadcast partners Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime this season – already up from 200 to compensate them over the competition’s three-month hiatus last term.
That was despite fans stressing their willingness to pay around £10 a game to watch additional fixtures, with clubs fearing that giving in to their demands would ultimately end up costing more money – and jobs – at a time when their own revenues have been decimated.
The Premier League declined to comment on the Government’s intervention, beyond a statement it issued last month in which it said its focus was on getting fans back into grounds as soon as possible, with Oct 1 targeted for capped crowds.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said: “Hundreds of thousands of match-going fans are facing the prospect of not being able to watch their team play. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and those in the positions of power and influence – in this case the Premier League, clubs, broadcasters and politicians – need to sort this out.
“We need fans excluded through capacity reductions or health considerations to be able to see the games. It’s not in anyone’s interests to have a situation where fans feel they have to resort to illegal pirate broadcast streams.”
Today’s shareholders’ meeting is also expected to see clubs debate again whether to continue with the option of five substitutes this season, almost a month after they voted decisively against doing so.
Fears among big clubs of the impact of a congested campaign on players led to the idea being resurrected, but opposition to it was holding firm last night and there was little sign of it obtaining the 14 votes required.