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      Premier League urged to make EVERY game held without fans available on TV by the government

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      THE Government has urged the Premier League to “follow the spirit of Project Restart” in making more games available to fans on TV.
      Supporters are slowly being allowed back into grounds as the coronavirus pandemic subsides, with small-scale trials underway.

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      The Government has urged the Premier League to make every game available live on TV until fans can returnCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      Broadcasters are nonetheless only increasing their TV selections by a small number ahead of the new campaign.
      Furthemore, no games are expected to be made available for free.
      On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport urged the league to find a solution that suits fans.
      A statement, via the BBC, read: “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’ loyal fans and consider what can be achieved in the meantime.”
      ENDLESS FUN
      Each of the final 92 games of last season was broadcast by either Sky Sports, BT, Amazon or the BBC.
      With fans still not allowed in grounds en masse, there have been calls to continue the wall-to-wall coverage when the 2020/21 campaign begins later this month.

      An extra 20 games means 220 are due to be shown, leaving 160 off screens and potentially completely unviewable in the UK.
      The Football Supporters’ Federation has described the situation as “totally unacceptable”.

      A statement read: “Regular match-goers will not always be able to watch their team as fans are not expected to be readmitted to stadiums until October.
      “Eleven games during September will therefore be played behind-closed-doors with no regular match-goers in the UK able to watch those games through legal means.
      “The FSA’s Premier League Fans Network finds this totally unacceptable.”
      It added: “As a matter of urgency top-flight supporters urge the Premier League to resolve this issue. Do not stop fans from watching their teams during a global pandemic.
      “It would be a disastrous decision by the Premier League and they must listen to supporters.”
      Meanwhile, EFL fans will be allowed to stream every one of their games next season via their club’s website.

      The Premier League campaign begins on September 12 with Arsenal’s trip to Fulham on BT Sport.
      Opening weekend fixtures including Crystal Palace versus Southampton and West Ham’s game with Newcastle are not set to have fans or be broadcast on any channel.
      Last weekend, Brighton allowed 2,500 fans into their stadium for the pre-season friendly with Chelsea and further trials are set for women’s and non-league football in the coming weeks.

      Fans return to English football for first time in six months as Brighton host Chelsea in friendly at Amex stadium More

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      Fulham vs Arsenal to kick off new season as TV fixtures for first three rounds of Premier League announced

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      FULHAM have the honour of kicking off the new Premier League season against Arsenal on live TV.
      The first three rounds of TV picks for the English top flight were announced today.

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      Fulham will play Arsenal at Craven Cottage to open the 2020-21 Premier League season
      And Scott Parker’s newly promoted side have a tasty London derby against Mikel Arteta’s FA Cup winners to get things off and running in 2020-21.
      Joe Bryan’s Wembley heroics saw the West Londoners immediately return to the Premier League via the play-offs after their relegation in 2019.
      And they will play live on BT Sport at 12.30pm on Saturday September 12.
      BT confirmed their following four fixtures to be screened live for fans’ entertainment.

      Everton will host promoted side West Brom in another lunchtime KO on Saturday September 19.
      Southampton will face Tottenham at Midday on Sunday September 20th – a game which could see Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg star for Spurs against his former club after a £20million move.
      MORE TO FOLLOW

      Recently promoted Fulham host Arsenal in our first game of the 2020/21 Premier League season 👊Saturday, September 12 | 12.30pm pic.twitter.com/armc80qGRy
      — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 28, 2020

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      Every Premier League game could be shown live on TV next season after Premier League lifts 3pm blackout

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      FANS are set to once again be able to watch EVERY Premier League game live on TV.
      As reported by The Times, The FA confirmed the Saturday 3pm TV blackout will be lifted for the start of the new season on September 12.

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      All Premier League games are set to be available on live TV for British fansCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      It is almost guaranteed that all games in the English top flight will be available to watch for British viewers until fans return to stadiums.
      The blackout was previously abolished for Project Restart as all games were broadcast live after the coronavirus-enforced break in play.
      Originally, the Premier League suggested they would abide by Sky Sports and BT Sports’ usual contracts – which would see 40 per cent of games unavailable live.

      But clubs feared this could see many turn to illegal streams and are keen to again allow season ticket holders to watch games through access codes to subscription services.

      The FA will not reimpose the blackout until fans return and it may not be reinstated until capacity crowds are permitted.
      The purpose of the blackout – brought in during the 1980s – is to protect live attendances and grassroots participation.
      But after Covid-19 turned the world upside down, the league had to have a rethink.
      And after play restarted in April all remaining games in the 2019-20 season were available to watch – some even for free as the BBC hosted their first ever live Premier League match.

      Sky also made a third of games available without a subscription, however, there is not expected to be a repeat of free-to-air action this time around.
      All games in the Championship, League One and League Two will be watchable for fans.
      Premier League chairmen are set to officially follow suit in a meeting on Thursday.

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      Premier League to show 20 extra matches on live TV next season but NONE will be free despite stadium bans for fans

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      FANS will reportedly be treated to an extra 20 live Premier League games in 2020/21 although NONE will be free.
      There was hope that, with fans not expected to return to stadiums for a couple of months at least, broadcasters will again allow for a handful of free-to-air games.

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      Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher will be busy men in front of the TV camerasCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      However, Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime are said to have successfully banded together to keep matches on their subscription services.
      The Mail report that, with fans locked out for the start of the campaign at least, 20 more games will be shown.
      Sky’s total has been bolstered by 12 to total a whopping 140 live games, with BT handed six more to make 58.
      Online streaming service Amazon Prime, which secured a number of games from the decision to show every game during the lockdown, ups its tally from 20 to 22.

      An opportunity to repeat the wall-to-wall coverage experienced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic was blocked amid fears of oversaturating the market.
      Clubs are already in discussions over a £350million rebate to broadcasters who suffered from the disruption of the lockdown, which cancelled all football for three months.

      The Premier League opening day fixtures for 2020-21 have been revealed

      And teams hoping to show non-broadcast games on their own streaming services, akin to the Championship’s iFollow deal, have also been slapped down.
      At the 2020/21 season’s fixture release on Thursday, the Premier League confirmed the addition of two midweek slots.

      Games will take place around Tuesday January 12 and May 11 to help squeeze in the tight schedule, with all games live on TV.
      The latter round sees Chelsea host Arsenal and Leicester face Manchester United in what promises to be a fierce fixture run-in for sides competing on multiple fronts.

      Premier League 2020-21 opening day fixtures revealed More

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      BT Sport to show Champions League final live stream on YouTube for FREE for fifth year running

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      BT SPORT have announced that Sunday’s Champions League final will be available to watch for free on their YouTube channel.
      The British broadcaster have exclusive rights of the competition from the final qualifying round onwards.

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      Fans will be able to watch Neymar and Co for free on SundayCredit: EPA
      But in a boost to fans, the channel has decided to make European football’s showpiece match free to watch online for the fifth year running.
      All supporters will have to do is visit their YouTube channel.
      Last year’s all-English final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur raked in an incredible 11.3million viewers between all of BT Sport’s platforms.
      And they will be hoping for another good turnout for this year’s match between Paris Saint-Germain and either Lyon or Bayern Munich.

      Friday’s Europa League final, narrowly missed out on by Manchester United, between Inter Milan and Sevilla will also be aired for free on the platform.
      YouTube’s head of UK partnerships Richard Lewis said: “For the fifth year running, BT Sport will live stream the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League Finals for free on their YouTube channel for millions of fans to view on their TVs or mobile devices.”
      PSG booked their place in their first ever Champions League final last night, after comfortably swatting aside semi-final debutants RB Leipzig 3-0.

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      Lyon could make it a shock all-French final on SundayCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      They will be joined by either Barcelona-conquerors Bayern Munich, or fellow French side Lyon – who face off tonight at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

      The final was originally supposed to take place in Istanbul, although the coronavirus-induced chaos put paid to that plan – with Lisbon now hosting the prestigious event.
      Gdansk, the original host of the Europa League final, will also have to wait until next year – with Cologne now putting on Friday’s match.

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      Steve McManaman misses 10 minutes of Wolves vs Crystal Palace clash after BT Sport co-commentator was stuck in traffic

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      FOOTBALL fans rejoiced on social media after BT Sport co-commentator Steve McManaman missed the start of the clash between Wolves and Crystal Palace.
      The 48-year-old arrived to Molineux 10 minutes late on Monday night after being stuck in traffic on the M6, with Darren Fletcher left to report on the match alone.

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      Steve McManaman left his BT Sport co-commentator alone in the gantry for the opening 10 minutes of Wolves’ clash against Crystal PalaceCredit: Reuters
      McManaman ended up running to his seat in the gantry as he joked about being breathless by the time he was able to speak on the game.
      He didn’t miss much though as the opening goal of the game didn’t occur until the 41st minute when Daniel Podence broke the deadlock for the home side.
      And Jonny then doubled the lead for Wolves midway through the second half to lift Nuno Espirito Santo’s men up to sixth spot in the Premier League.
      But it was McManaman’s early absence that was the talk of Twitter, with users left delighted by his absence.

      One fan tweeted: “Yay! Steve McManaman is stuck in traffic so late for the game!!.”
      Another supported quipped: “Can it be arranged for McManaman to be approx 2 hours late for EVERY match.”
      A third added: “Steve McManaman is late? He’s literally had all day to drive there.”

      Meanwhile one begged: “Steve McManaman “stuck in traffic” and late for commentary duties for the Wolves vs Crystal Palace game. Just hoping this is a sacking offence. Please.”

      One then joked: “Steve McManaman running late stuck in traffic… I didn’t believe in god before this moment.”
      Another simply stated: “Gutted Steve McManaman was only 10 minutes late.”

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      Premier League to end bonanza of live TV matches next season and ‘revert back to broadcasting select games’

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      THE Premier League is to end the bonanza of live televised matches for the 2020-21 season.
      Since the restart, every match has been available to watch on TV to make up for fans being banned from the stadiums.

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      The Premier League will ‘revert back to normal’ next season with only select matches broadcast liveCredit: AP:Associated Press
      All 92 games have been made available for fans, on Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and the BBC.
      But despite there being no set date for allowing fans back into grounds, broadcasters are set to revert back to broadcasting select games, say The Athletic.
      The report states Sky and BT will carry on as they have for years, broadcasting select games.
      Amazon Prime will have their allotment of 20 matches for 2020-21.

      Meanwhile, the BBC will go back to showing only highlights, with no live Premier League games.
      The Beeb recently showed their first live top-flight match in 32 years in Crystal Palace’s win over Bournemouth last month.
      The game fell agonisingly short of becoming the most-watched Premier League match of all time with 3.9million tuning in.

      Losing the chance to watch all matches live on TV will be a huge blow to fans, particularly supporters of club who see fewer of their matches chosen for coverage.

      But fans will be buoyed by the news fans might be allowed back into stadiums in September, redy for the start of the 2020-21 season.
      Last month, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “I would really hope that by the return of the new season we might be in a position whereby some fans could start to return to stadiums.
      “And I know that would be another important part of restoring the financial position of clubs.”

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      Fans confused as BT Sport commentator plugs LAST WEEK’S Man Utd v Bournemouth game during West Ham’s trip to Norwich

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      BT SPORT’s Ian Darke made a broadcasting blunder while covering Norwich vs West Ham today.
      Commentator Darke was heard promoting BT Sport’s coverage of Manchester United’s match with Bournemouth – a game that took place a week ago!

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      BT Sport commentator Ian Darke accidentally plugged last week’s Man United v Bournemouth fixture
      Fans on social media were quick to point out Darke’s promotional error.
      “Did Ian Darke just plug last weekend’s United-Bournemouth game?” tweeted one. “Someone forgot to change the script.”
      “I knew I wasn’t hearing things,” responded one fan.
      Others chose to have some fun with the gaffe.

      One fan tweeted: “Has Ian Darke just advertised Man United v Bournemouth? I’ll have a bet on that.”
      “Have I gone back in time or something?” said another.

      It is thought Darke should have been promoting Liverpool vs Burnley on BT Sport 1.
      His script supervisor might have some explaining to do!

      The veteran broadcaster was commentating on today’s early kick-off which saw West Ham pummel Norwich 4-0 at Carrow Road thanks to four goals from Michail Antonio – relegating the Canaries in the process.

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