Viewers will have to pay nearly $20 to watch games not selected for broadcast by Sky Sports or BT Sport in October.
The Premier League has announced that the matches not already selected for broadcast will be made available to watch on a pay-per-view basis, accessed via BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office platforms.
Now, fans will have to pay nearly $20 for the games not chosen to be screened in the usual way.
The League also confirmed all fixtures until the end of October will continue to be made available for fans to watch live in the UK.
“Under these new arrangements, the current live match selections will remain in place and will be broadcast as normal,” the league said in a statement.
“The agreement will be regularly reviewed in consultation with clubs and in line with any decisions made by the government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums. The Premier League and our clubs remain committed to the safe return of fans as soon as possible,” the statement further read.
Since the league resumed in June, all top-flight games were made available on TV, including some free to air on the BBC. This was an agreement struck between the Premier League and broadcasters to encourage people to stay home.
However, the move will drive fans towards illegal streaming, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has said.
“It is going to drive people towards piracy,” Maguire told BBC Radio 5 Live of the $20 cost per individual match. “It’s a public relations disaster. It discriminates against the clubs that don’t tend to be on Sky Sports or BT that often.”
Meanwhile, the Premier League stepped up its war against piracy last month to protect its UK broadcasting deals worth $6.5bn. The League told the Financial Times it had secured new High Court orders, known as a “Super Block”, ahead of its new season.
The move will force internet service providers to block servers which are found hosting illegal streams as soon as they are identified by the Premier League’s anti-piracy operatives.
