Topics: Football, Premier League, Sky Sports, Match Of The Day
One political party has promised to make Premier League matches free to watch on TV if they win the general election.
Following the calling of a general election on July 4, politicians have begun campaigning up and down the UK to try and secure votes.
With the Labour Party widely expected to win the election, the Conservatives - currently in power - and the Liberal Democrats are making plenty of promises in a bid to change voters' minds.
The Conservatives and Labour are the two biggest parties in the UK, but the Lib Dems are hoping their promise to make Premier League football free-to-view will increase their popularity.
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In the Lib Dems' election manifesto, party leader Sir Ed Davey has pledged to make top flights matches free to view on terrestrial TV, something that hasn't been the case in the UK since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, except for a short period during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lib Dems say the policy would tackle costly TV subscriptions, which they claim can cost supporters almost £880 per season due to games being spread across several different broadcasters.
Sir Ed said: "We need to tear down the paywall and give Premier League football back to the country.
"The next generation of fans and players are unable to watch the likes of [Phil] Foden, [Bukayo] Saka and [Cole] Palmer. That is a tragedy for the sport.
Speaking to Sky News on Saturday morning, former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron clarified that the party would look to have a minimum of 10 Premier League matches shown on free-to-air TV per season.
Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video currently hold live broadcast rights for the Premier League.
In the manifesto, Sir Ed Davey took aim at the Conservatives' promises regarding football.
"The Conservative government has completely failed football fans, from breaking their promise to create a football regulator, to allowing greedy broadcasters to hide Premier League football away from millions."
The Tory government had plans for a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) through the Football Governance Bill.
However it did not clear all the hurdles it needed to become law before the dissolution of Parliament, ahead of the General Election on Thursday July 4.
In response to the Lib Dems' claims, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: "The Liberal Democrats are just making things up at this point. They can't force TV companies to reduce subscription prices, or football clubs to make tickets cheaper, and the Government remains committed to delivering the Independent Football Regulator."
