Copyright dailystar
The Premier League has been given an exemption from the 3pm TV blackout. England's top-flight will reportedly be allowed to broadcast certain matches during that timeslot. According to The Athletic, games will be allowed to be broadcast on two days during the upcoming festive period. Those fixtures fall on Saturday, December 27 and Saturday, January 3, the 18th and 20th gameweek of the 2025/26 season. The change would allow the 3pm scheduled games on those days to be broadcast live, despite the blackout. However, it's reported that the Premier League does not intend to exercise the ability to broadcast those fixtures. The Premier League has maintained its support for observing the blackout, which prohibits 3pm kick-offs from being televised across the English football pyramid. That decision could also be linked to their current broadcasting deals with Sky Sports and TNT Sports, with both broadcasters' respective deals licensing a set number of fixtures and slots around the blackout. Currently, 10 fixtures are set to take place on December 27 and a further 10 on January 3, but the Premier League have not yet confirmed their fixture amendments and UK TV broadcast picks over the festive period. The 3pm blackout was first introduced in the 1960s as a measure to help protect attendances at games across all divisions of the Football League and National League system. Supporters and opponents to the blackout have been incredibly vocal in the past, with the debate regarding whether attendances at local games would diminish remaining a topic of discussion. The blackout isn't in place outside of the UK, meaning fans abroad can watch 3pm Premier League games live. When asked about the blackout at the Leaders football conference earlier this month, Premier League CEO Richard Masters said: "We are committed to it for the foreseeable future and it’s not a decision that we make, it’s done in conjunction with other football bodies, the EFL (English Football League) and the FA (English Football Association)."
