Premier League ‘discussing plans to DITCH Sky Sports and BT Sport and show games on OWN platform’

Premier League bosses are reportedly ‘discussing’ future options to move away from Sky Sports and BT Sport in a bid to ‘cut out the middleman’.

According to The mirrorit seems ‘probable that there will be one more multi-partner deal’ before the Premier League takes matters in-house and handles the broadcasting business itself.

That will be a huge blow to Sky Sports, which has operated as the main broadcaster for the league’s football coverage since the Comcast-owned television giant joined forces with the league after its formation in 1992.

In fact, Sky has played a big part of England’s top flight success, with other agencies such as BT Sport and Amazon Prime Sport also showing matches in recent years.

It comes at a time when top-flight football television rights are becoming a highly lucrative commodity, with EFL television rights recently doubling in value to over £200 million.

The report called the move a ‘money-printing license for the Premier League’, suggesting the move will give them a lot more power over when they can show games, as well as control over the revenue they receive from those broadcasts.

This could also contribute to more money going to top clubs, while less money goes to external broadcasters.

The news comes as DAZN, which has already paid £747 million for the rights to show Serie A, will reportedly compete with Sky, Amazon and BT to acquire the rights to show the Premier League on their platform.

That could mean fans should look to yet another streaming service, with some supporters, wanting to watch football on all three current rightsholders, currently paying more than £100 a month.

That’s a hefty outlay, especially in the current climate, but should the Premier League ‘cut out those middlemen’ who could help reduce the costs fans pay to these extra broadcasters, with viewers potentially having to worry about just one subscription to the Premier League broadcast service.

That will also be a better deal for fans attending the game, with the report suggesting it could reduce the number of anti-social kick-off times scheduled by television broadcasters.

That comes a year after Sportsmail’s campaign against football’s late starting times, which claimed broadcasters should start catering to fans rather than charge exorbitant fees to watch matches.

More recently, television companies may be taking some steps in the right direction, with reports suggesting the FA is considering scrapping the 3pm blackouts for FA Cup matches in the future.

While the potential move is still a long way off, it is clear that many fans are against using multiple subscription services to watch their games, with new broadcasters such as Viaplay recently taking over the rights to also broadcast Scottish Premier League matches and LaLiga games. show.

Kevin Miles, CEO of the Football Supporters Association, spoke on the matter and agreed that fans had begun to feel the strain of paying for multiple subscription providers to watch matches, especially in a cost of living crisis.

“There is no doubt that supporters are increasingly feeling the financial strain,” Miles said.

“We are not unaffected by the general cost of living crisis, but the more platforms there are, the more subscriptions we need to find.

“For those fans who want to watch all the club’s matches on television, the costs are really starting to add up.”