A Premier League media release was issued on October 9th outlining that five matches per round will be made available to supporters via pay-per-view on BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office. This is due to begin for the next round of fixtures with Chelsea vs Southampton on October 17th at 3:00pm.
Following the suspension of the 2019/20 campaign, a deal was agreed between the Premier League, clubs and broadcasters which saw all matches made available to watch on BT Sport, Sky Sports and Amazon Prime in order to support the government and fans during a difficult time. This arrangement continued through the first four matchweeks of the 2020/21 season before the Premier League statement was made.
The media release stated: "Clubs today agreed this interim solution to enable all fans to continue to watch their teams live. The Premier League has worked closely with Sky Sports and BT Sport to provide this arrangement and is grateful for their support."
'We feel neglected and disposable'
There topic of pay-per-view has caused a storm on social media with many fans speaking out in response.
A member of the Southampton fan board Saint’s Voice, Callum Ford, 19, issued a message to Southampton Football Club indicating his frustration with the club for agreeing to the pay-per-view deal.
“I along with many other Saints Fans am disgusted with the clubs choice to vote in favour of charging £15 per game for us to watch our beloved team.”
The greatest disappointment for Callum, and other Premier League fans, is the lack of communication from clubs: “Greed is the only conclusion I can come to… to us who follow our team home and away we feel neglected and disposable.”
When asked if he thought his message would force Southampton FC to go back on their stance Callum said “I do think it’s possible which is why I have done it to pile pressure on Southampton and the Premier League.”
The fan board Saint’s Voice have previously influenced the club into issuing a season ticket price freeze in June.
Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier created a Twitter poll shortly after the Premier League statement was released asking ‘Are you willing to pay £14.95 to watch pay per view Premier League games?’ Of the 19,290 responses, 96.3% voted ‘No’.
Is it justified?
The biggest issue is clarity, fans are annoyed because football is being taken away from them without clubs explaining why.
Brighton’s Chief Executive Paul Barber has attempted to address this, recently discussing how the money brought in from pay-per-view will help to sustain thousands of jobs per club as well as highlighting the difficulty of managing fans expectations with on pitch performance.
However, whether this is enough to satisfy fans remains to be seen.
The pay-per-view system will act as an interim solution to making football accessible to fans as stated by the Premier League media release: “The agreement will be regularly reviewed in consultation with clubs and in line with any decisions made by Government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums.”
With pressure mounting from fans over both pay-per-view and bringing fans back into stadiums, the situation will evolve significantly over the coming weeks and months so expect changes to pay-per-view Premier League.