Plans to live stream Premier League games on YouTube & Amazon revealed

2019-20 Premier League: 92 matches left to play

There are 92 matches left to play in the 2019-20 Premier League season.

It remains unclear whether Project Restart will receive the requisite approval from the 20 clubs in the league.

14 teams need to be in agreement for the proposal to pass.

Reports this week suggested that up to 8 Premier League clubs weren’t onboard with Project Restart.

 

Plans to live stream games on YouTube

However, as confirmed in the Times on Tuesday, part of the Project Restart plans included provisions to broadcast some of the matches for free on YouTube.

Reporter Martyn Ziegler has claimed that “all of the 92 remaining Premier League matches would be shown live on TV with selected games shown free to air via Sky and BT Sport’s YouTube channels, under proposals being discussed with broadcasters.”

It remains unclear which exact matches could be broadcast on YouTube.

Moreover, the Times offered no insight into whether the matches on YouTube would be geo-restricted to the UK, although that feels like a reasonable assumption.

NEW: Plan to show some PL games free on YouTube & the majority on Sky & BT’s pay TV platforms, plus a few on Amazon. Also: broadcasters fiercely oppose scrapping relegation saying to do so would breach their contracts: https://t.co/SAPpoNA3cf

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) May 4, 2020

 

Amazon could also broadcast more Premier League matches

Earlier in the season, Amazon Prime TV became the first online broadcaster to live stream Premier League matches.

Amazon live streamed 20 matches which were broken down into two complete Premier League gameweeks.

The first gameweek ran from December 3-5, while the second spanned the Boxing Day Premier League fixture list.

According to the Times, Amazon could now benefit from Project Restart plans to show more games on their online platform:

Most of the matches — which are to be played in empty stadiums under a plan to restart top-flight football — would be on Sky and BT Sport’s pay-TV platforms but a few would be shown by Amazon, according to the plan.

(Amazon) is also a live rights holder even though they had no matches left to stream this season, based on the proportion of games they are contracted to show each year.

Tuesday’s TIMES Sport: “YouTube may show Premier League games” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/5PNf9COj5m

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) May 4, 2020

 

What about Sky & BT Sport?

So how will be the breakdown on live streaming the remaining Premier League matches unfold?

47 of the remaining 92 fixtures were already set to be broadcasted live on either Sky or BT Sport.

The Times report that the other 45 games are intended to be carved up for live streaming between Sky and BT and Amazon Prime.

Sky and BT Sport could live stream some of those matches on their YouTube accounts.

 

BBC & Match of the Day

The big loser in this discussion appears to be the BBC.

To the chagrin of many football fans who may no longer be able to pay for cable TV, there are no plans to live stream any of the remaining 92 Premier League games for free on the BBC. The Times simply report:

The BBC would potentially be permitted to show highlights more often but it is unlikely any games would be live on terrestrial TV.

Would Match of the Day be on every night? That’s yet to be confirmed.

 

Also see: Best Netflix, Amazon & YouTube football documentaries & movies to watch during coronavirus isolation.

Best football podcasts to listen to during coronavirus quarantine

from Football (soccer) greatest goals and highlights | 101 Great Goals - Feed https://ift.tt/3b3wfH5