Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Fan Reactions, Premier League, BT Sport, Sky Sports
Josh Lawless
Fans fear the "country will not be able to cope" after it emerged the Premier League are set to make a huge change to proceedings.
Pre-season will be again in the next couple of weeks for the majority of clubs before the new campaign gets underway in six weeks.
But according to the Daily Mail,
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starting from the 2024/25 season, the number of games shown on TV will increase from 200 to 270 - with plans for every single Sunday fixture live on the box.
However, that would mean a massive alteration to kick-off times, including midday and 7pm matches.
Monday and Friday night matches will be more frequent in the revamp, while the amount of television packages which companies bid for is set to drop.
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Going forward, there will be less packages but more games. A tender document is slated for a release in October and it's expected that the small 20-game package Amazon Prime have had for the last few years will no longer be available.
Clubs playing in the Europa League are most likely to play on Sundays due to their Thursday night fixtures and will earn £1 million per televised game.
But while more live football might seem like a good thing, match-going fans are already voicing their anger at the problems it will cause.
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One wrote: "We don’t want changes to the times, just put them all on the TV. Simple."
A second said: "3pm blackout must stay cause of fans in stadiums but Sunday 7pm will keep fans there."
A third added: "No respect for travelling fans, 7pm on a Sunday? Ridiculous decision!"
Another weighed in: "Great for armchair supporters, awful for fans who will have to travel long distances on a Sunday evening. Same old story."
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A fifth fumed: "Sod the poor fans that actually go to the games. All about greed from the Premier League for more TV money."
The current TV deal is worth £5 billion and the next round of bidding is likely to see Sky Sports and TNT Sport (BT Sport's new name) go at it, with Amazon, Apple TV and Disney also in the mix.
Apple have a blockbuster $2.5 billion,10-year agreement to show every MLS game as part of the 'Season Pass' - with viewing figures set to go through the roof with Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami.