Some Premier League games to be shown on YouTube for FREE when season resumes from coronavirus
SOME Premier League games are set to be shown on YouTube for FREE when the season restarts following the coronavirus lockdown.
Under a proposal currently being discussed, all 92 matches still due to be played are to be broadcast on Sky Sports, BT Sport or on YouTube.
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It is hoped the 2019-20 season can still be finished in a jam-packed seven-week summer schedule.
But with games set to be played in front of empty stadiums, football bosses want fans to be able to watch EVERY game live.
Under the plans, most games will be shown on main broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport.
Amazon will have a selection of other matches and with no games due to be shown live on the BBC or ITV, YouTube is being discussed as a free-to-air option.
A number of other sports have also embraced YouTube as a vessel to broadcast matches live for free.
Rugby union’s second tier and even cricket’s County Championship regularly stream at least one match per round of fixtures on the video sharing platform.
But the last time the Premier League showed matches for free was on the opening day of the 2013-14 season.
That day, Sky Sports showed Manchester United vs Swansea while BT Sport allowed fans to watch Crystal Palace vs Arsenal for free.
The Premier League’s aim is to start on June 12, as SunSport exclusively revealed on Saturday, but the fresh plan gives an extra week if there are complications.
But it means matches MUST begin by June 19 — just under seven weeks away — or it will be impossible for the games to be completed before Uefa’s domestic league cut-off date of August 2.
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And if the Government does not announce eases in the lockdown restrictions on Thursday and significantly more in the coming weeks, clubs may reluctantly accept they are running out of time.
Last Friday’s meeting of the 20 shareholder clubs saw the debate concentrate on the medical conditions which will allow training and then behind-closed-doors matches at neutral venues.
But the new timetable was addressed and initially Premier League chiefs had suggested they needed around just five weeks to complete the remaining 92 matches.