SKY SPORTS and BT Sport have REFUSED to announce the amount of pay-per-views sold during the first weekend of the controversial scheme as angry fans turned off.
The broadcasting giants have both introduced a £14.95 fee for games that would not ordinarily have been televised, starting this weekend.
Sky Sports and BT Sport have refused to release their PPV figures for the opening weekend
Four games were part of the PPV plan over the weekend.
But fuming fans promised to switch off in the build-up to them.
Sky nor BT have failed to release the details of their PPV sales – as supporters raged at the lack of punditry for Chelsea’s 3-3 draw with Southampton.
Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle was one of the four games on PPV this weekend.
United legend Gary Neville refused to stump up the fee to watch.
And angry supporters in Newcastle opted to give their £15 to local charity, NUFC Fans Food Bank.
On Saturday alone, the charity raked in £12,000, with the weekend total rising to a staggering £19,000.
The generous donations proved fans were more keen to spend their money on a worthwhile cause, rather than a money-making scheme from an already-mega-rich company.
In the weekend’s final PPV match, Burnley will take on West Brom on Monday night – again costing would-be viewers £14.95.
But it’s likely most fans will continue their boycott – with a Change.org petition even being set up, entitled ‘Stop Pay Per View Football’.
Broadcasters felt the need to introduce the £14.95 fee, as clubs had hoped to have at least some fans back inside stadiums by October.
With fan-absence costing clubs an average of £100million per month, officials claimed they could no longer give away their product for free.
Clubs were also forced to pay a rebate to broadcasters at the end of last season due to the coronavirus lockdown.
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
