THE figures for the first two rounds of the Premier League’s pay-per-view matches have been revealed with an average of 39,000 viewers paying £14.95.
There have so far been ten games shown on PPV since it started on October 17, though none of the fixtures have attracted an audience of more than 100,000.
Brighton’s clash with West Brom on Monday was the latest Premier League pay-per-view match
According to the Daily Mail, the average number of purchases has been 39,000.
That is still higher than the average attendance for the last Covid-19-free Premier League season which was 38,168 in the 2018-19 term.
But the vast majority of fans have balked at the £14.95 price to watch games, with just two fixtures gaining between 70,000-90,000 viewers.
And three of the matches have attracted less than 10,000 viewers – leaving clubs to consider lowering the price.
To put in context, a game on Sky not featuring two of the big-six competing against each other pulls in close to 1 million viewers.
The incredible 6-1 win for Tottenham over Manchester United earlier this season had a peak audience of 3.3 million.
Meanwhile, the BBC’s coverage of Southampton vs Manchester City in July set a record for the highest ever TV audience for a Premier League game at 5.7 million.
NO CHANGE, YET
Despite the figures, clubs wont discuss considering a change in pricing until after the international break next month.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley believes prices should be slashed to a reasonable £4.95 until Christmas.
Sky Sports and BT Sport already want to axe the controversial PPV matches with the broadcasters worried about ruining their reputation.
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has been outspoken about the PPV coverage of Premier League games, as he called on it to be scrapped.
Premier League PPV matches played so far
- October 17 – Chelsea 3-3 Southampton
- October 17 – Newcastle 1-4 Man Utd
- October 18 – Sheffield United 1-1 Fulham
- October 18 – Leicester 0-1 Aston Villa
- October 19 – West Brom 0-0 Burnley
- October 23 – Aston Villa 0-3 Leeds
- October 24 – Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace
- October 24 – Liverpool 2-1 Sheffield United
- October 25 – Arsenal 0-1 Leicester
- October 26 – Brighton 1-1 West Brom
Neville spoke about how it may be beneficial if an independent regulator is appointed to govern football.
He told Sky Sports: “What an independent regulator does, appointed by the government, is just look at balance and fairness.
“So that self-interest through the Premier League, or whether it be other factions of football, are just able to be brought back to a simple ‘no that doesn’t work’.
“£14.95, that doesn’t work, so Mr Regulator says ‘no you’re not doing that, it doesn’t work for the fan, it’s not fair at this moment of time we’re gonna stop it,’ that’s one example.”
He then added: “It just needs scrapping. It’s gone. It’s finished.
“No one is paying, no one is watching, it’s done, it’s finished, get rid of it.”
Premier League matches will cost £14.95 on PPV Box Office channels with Man Utd and Chelsea games among first clashes
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
