Premier League's TV revolution signalling end of 3pm blackout would be no bad thing

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The news that the Premier League is going ‘direct-to-consumer’ in one of its international broadcast markets should come as no surprise. Make no mistake, the ‘Premflix’ TV channel is coming to you, sooner or later.

It might be as early as 2029, when the current £6.7billion domestic deal with Sky Sports and TNT Sports comes to an end. But whenever ‘Premflix’ hits our screens, one of the first questions that will be asked is … what took them so long?

The streaming arrangement with Singapore company StarHub means all 380 games will be shown live on a special channel, Premier League +. The channel will also have magazine content.

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“We have now taken control of our content. It allows us to look differently in the future,” Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, told the FT Live Business of Football summit.

And it does not take a leap of imagination to envisage how ‘differently’ televised Premier League football in the United Kingdom will look in the not-too-distant future. The organisation’s own streaming service might run alongside a TV deal with Sky, or whoever, but you can be almost certain of one thing.

We will not go into the next decade with an arrangement that means not every Premier League game is available to watch as it happens. The Americans who own Premier League clubs will surely see to that.

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Fundamentally, it is an insult to the passion and commitment of fans of clubs throughout the entire football pyramid to suggest they would not go and support their team if Bournemouth v Brentford was being shown on the telly at the same time. And with respect to those two teams, it would, generally, be Bournemouth v Brentford, or sides of a similar ilk.

The big TV guns - Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal - are needed for prime time as it stands right now. You can see a point in the future when they never play at 3pm on a Saturday. It would be another mighty blow to the tradition and history of football on these shores but since when has that been a concern of Premier League club owners?

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They are, as a rule, successful business people and, whether you like it or not, they have a product that is in phenomenal demand at home and abroad. For elements of that product to be unavailable to watch live is a glaring anomaly in 21st century sports broadcasting.

And don’t worry about the clubs in the Championship, in Leagues One and Two, in the National League and in all the leagues below. Their loyalty will not even be remotely tested by Bournemouth v Brentford on Premflix at 3pm on a Saturday.