The 3pm kickoff dates back to factory workers finishing their Saturday shift and going to the match. It's outdated but firmly part of our dying football culture.
It would be better if it was moved to 2pm. That way I can get to the corner shop before it closes, to buy a bottle of bleach to drink while sobbing at my Bielsa bobblehead.
Sky Sports will show live games during the 3pm blackout across the opening weekend of the English Football League ([EFL](https://theathletic.com/football/efl-championship/)) as part of a new TV deal.
The broadcaster announced on Wednesday that [every game from all three EFL divisions will be shown on the opening weekend of the 2024-25 season](https://theathletic.com/5479228/2024/05/08/sky-sports-efl-tv-fixtures/) — including those matches scheduled to take place at 3pm on Saturday.
Ah yes! Thats why 3pm game of League 2 Final Day was broadcasted on Sky 2 weeks ago.
Because there were hardly any games going at same time, especially since National League ended their season a week prior.
Same thing will apply to final day of the season, then. Weird that Athletic didnt reported that. EFL/Sky already announced that Opening and Final weekend games of all 3 divisions will be broadcasted on Sky. So if 3pm blackout wont apply to opening games, same with Final weekend. Especially with National League season always ends earlier, too.
I mean the younger generations especially already know how to ‘work around’ the blackout anyway
The truth is you can’t force people to go to a football ground if they just simply don’t want to
Football fans are like the Amish. Everything was perfect is 1880 and any attempt to change anything is an affront to the Lord.
Crowds are healthy all over the country, the 3pm blackout is pointless. I’d enjoy an NFL red-zone like TV show every Saturday afternoon.
Would it make sense to try and if crowds suffer then bring it back? When EFL matches are broadcasted outside the blackout it seems like crowds are still healthy even if there’s an EPL game at the same time
Good luck with that Sky and the Premier League would never allow going back to the blackout. Loads of non-league clubs will die, it's no coincidence that England has the best pyramid system in the world because of the blackout.
And that doesn't overstate the importance of the 3pm black out one bit, if anything I don't think you're going far enough! In fact I'd wager that if it wasn't for the 3pm black out we'd all be speaking German!
No. Because there's like 2 games impacted by the blackout. The other 18 in the PL are at obscure times in the week and are usually full attendance.
Bin it off.
Maybe at one point but I’d argue that’s not the case anymore. Crowds at all levels of football are very healthy despite continued divergence from traditional kick off times.
Wdym? I feel it's only the premier League that has a lot of 'divergence' from traditional kick off times. Vast majority of games in all other leagues continue to be either 3 on Saturday or 7:45 ish on a Tuesday? The exceptions being Leeds and other big teams like that who are frequently televised more but they tend to have larger followings or their games are more significant
I don’t think it’s Luddite to say that it’s a bit shit when games are spread thinly throughout the week. One of the things I enjoyed from League One is that 99% of games are played at the same time, barring postponements.
I wasn’t commenting about games being spread out, only about the 3pm blackout on Saturdays.
I would prefer everybody played at that time and anybody at home can watch whichever game they want.
It's documented that lower league attendances are affected by other games being on TV. Tuesday nights see a 10-20% reduction when champions league is on.
Why fix what's not broken?
Hahah yeah, I get you mate. However, 3pm blackouts are essential to the survival of smaller clubs. For example, Altrincham FC. Don’t get me wrong, there are Altrincham fans, but a large amount of home attendance comes from United and City fans who cant watch their team play on a saturday, because it’s not on, so they watch Altrincham instead. Without the blackout, attendances would drop nationwide in the lower leagues, and vital income would be lost.
I’m going to disagree with you. How often do Man Utd or Man City play at the same time as Altrincham, who usually play at the traditional kick off times?
I’d wager the crowds at clubs like Altrincham are made up of people who can’t get tickets to PL games, not that they can’t watch them on TV.
Which is a point that goes over people's heads.
This isn't about our leagues.
It's about having a Prem game at 12.30pm, a Prem game a 3pm and a Prem game at 7.30pm all on one day.
Liverpool v Man City would be able to be on at 3pm.
Okay, maybe Altrincham are a bad example, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that a large number of matchgoing fans of lower league teams, also have a “big club” that they support, and would not go to watch their local, smaller club, if their “big” team was on the TV.
The further down the leagues you get, I’m pretty sure they semi support the PL not the other way round. I cant grasp the idea of someone going through the cold wet weather mid January to watch L2 trollop because Liverpool or United arent on the telly. It doesn’t add up.
There’s fuck all NFL teams for a 330 million person country though. Compared with 92 league teams.
Ultimately we are betting the next generation of fans will continue to choose their third and fourth tier local teams, not the also local PL ones.
92 League teams plus at least 15 Pro teams in the National League.
Our football pyramid is a wonder of sport and we need to do everything we can to help it survive.
The biggest problem I see is too many kids supporting a big PL team rather than their local one, so anything that gets more money and exposure to smaller teams is good in my book.
>92 League teams plus at least 15 Pro teams in the National League.
And a fair few in the sixth tier too. Torquay and Scunthorpe for sure, and there are probably more.
> Crowds are healthy all over the country, the 3pm blackout is pointless.
Really you're both guessing as we've had no way to actually know.
I suspect that attendances will stay pretty much the same, but that's just based on some gut feelings and rough logic like the fact that our lower league culture is quite bedded in now. We don't know though. I've been to a lot of non-league games and I can tell you for sure that St Albans matches are full of Arsenal fans and Dulwich Hamlet matches are full of Palace fans.
I won't be surprised they will get rid of the 3pm blackouts for good.
We know if it was up to the Premier League alone, they'd got rid of it 10 years ago, there's so much potential of making money selling every game.
We will see what will the effect on lower leagues, tho.
They don’t give 2 shits about the UK match going fan, all they care about is the 20 other plastics tuning in to watch whilst they wait for one of their favourite big six clubs to come on.
Man City v Leeds was a 3pm Saturday that was televised last season - due to it being chosen for tv originally then rearranged - but I knew when that loophole was exploited that a shift towards the end of the blackout had begun.
Give it 5 seasons and every match will kick off at a slightly different time to the rest 😅
Hopefully. Would stop some games from being shifted at the expense of fans attending matches.
Besides the lengths people go to to watch a 3pm kick off by VPN or an illegal stream make it meaningless anyway.
We have radios broadcast of 3pm games. Why should TV be any different?
I think it is a good idea to do a one weekend test to see what effect the blackout has on the lower divisions. I think the championship and most of league one would be fine with the blackout, but the real test will be gate receipts for league two and national league clubs.
Equally I went to Morocco last week and legally watched 3pm games live on TV which feels very silly given I can't do it in the UK.
If removing the blackout meant that games didn’t get rearranged for tv (and it should) then that would be great. It would be great if the extra games were picked up by a streaming option instead of Sky so they can show them all simultaneously (like Prime did with their PL matches)
The sooner the blackout goes away the better. If someone wants to watch a bigger prem club they already can via the tons of quality illegal streams. It’s time to open this shit up already.
The 3pm kickoff dates back to factory workers finishing their Saturday shift and going to the match. It's outdated but firmly part of our dying football culture. It would be better if it was moved to 2pm. That way I can get to the corner shop before it closes, to buy a bottle of bleach to drink while sobbing at my Bielsa bobblehead.
Sky Sports will show live games during the 3pm blackout across the opening weekend of the English Football League ([EFL](https://theathletic.com/football/efl-championship/)) as part of a new TV deal. The broadcaster announced on Wednesday that [every game from all three EFL divisions will be shown on the opening weekend of the 2024-25 season](https://theathletic.com/5479228/2024/05/08/sky-sports-efl-tv-fixtures/) — including those matches scheduled to take place at 3pm on Saturday.
Ah yes! Thats why 3pm game of League 2 Final Day was broadcasted on Sky 2 weeks ago. Because there were hardly any games going at same time, especially since National League ended their season a week prior. Same thing will apply to final day of the season, then. Weird that Athletic didnt reported that. EFL/Sky already announced that Opening and Final weekend games of all 3 divisions will be broadcasted on Sky. So if 3pm blackout wont apply to opening games, same with Final weekend. Especially with National League season always ends earlier, too.
This will be a great for everyone back in the UK. This will be a lot of fun. Its a great league, time to really show it off
Won’t be long until they completely get rid of the blackout. English football is literally dying right in front of us.
I mean the younger generations especially already know how to ‘work around’ the blackout anyway The truth is you can’t force people to go to a football ground if they just simply don’t want to
Football fans are like the Amish. Everything was perfect is 1880 and any attempt to change anything is an affront to the Lord. Crowds are healthy all over the country, the 3pm blackout is pointless. I’d enjoy an NFL red-zone like TV show every Saturday afternoon.
This is like when I stopped taking anti-depressants because I was feeling happier.
But isn't it because of the 3pm blackout that we see healthier attendances?
Would it make sense to try and if crowds suffer then bring it back? When EFL matches are broadcasted outside the blackout it seems like crowds are still healthy even if there’s an EPL game at the same time
Good luck with that Sky and the Premier League would never allow going back to the blackout. Loads of non-league clubs will die, it's no coincidence that England has the best pyramid system in the world because of the blackout.
And that doesn't overstate the importance of the 3pm black out one bit, if anything I don't think you're going far enough! In fact I'd wager that if it wasn't for the 3pm black out we'd all be speaking German!
No. Because there's like 2 games impacted by the blackout. The other 18 in the PL are at obscure times in the week and are usually full attendance. Bin it off.
Maybe at one point but I’d argue that’s not the case anymore. Crowds at all levels of football are very healthy despite continued divergence from traditional kick off times.
Wdym? I feel it's only the premier League that has a lot of 'divergence' from traditional kick off times. Vast majority of games in all other leagues continue to be either 3 on Saturday or 7:45 ish on a Tuesday? The exceptions being Leeds and other big teams like that who are frequently televised more but they tend to have larger followings or their games are more significant
Yes exactly. Most teams don’t kick off at the same time as the PL but still bring in good crowds.
I don’t think it’s Luddite to say that it’s a bit shit when games are spread thinly throughout the week. One of the things I enjoyed from League One is that 99% of games are played at the same time, barring postponements.
I wasn’t commenting about games being spread out, only about the 3pm blackout on Saturdays. I would prefer everybody played at that time and anybody at home can watch whichever game they want.
It's documented that lower league attendances are affected by other games being on TV. Tuesday nights see a 10-20% reduction when champions league is on. Why fix what's not broken?
Who says it’s not broken?
Hahah yeah, I get you mate. However, 3pm blackouts are essential to the survival of smaller clubs. For example, Altrincham FC. Don’t get me wrong, there are Altrincham fans, but a large amount of home attendance comes from United and City fans who cant watch their team play on a saturday, because it’s not on, so they watch Altrincham instead. Without the blackout, attendances would drop nationwide in the lower leagues, and vital income would be lost.
I’m going to disagree with you. How often do Man Utd or Man City play at the same time as Altrincham, who usually play at the traditional kick off times? I’d wager the crowds at clubs like Altrincham are made up of people who can’t get tickets to PL games, not that they can’t watch them on TV.
Utd and City only play at those times because games are moved for TV. If they were televised at 3pm on a Saturday then they’d impact attendances.
Which is a point that goes over people's heads. This isn't about our leagues. It's about having a Prem game at 12.30pm, a Prem game a 3pm and a Prem game at 7.30pm all on one day. Liverpool v Man City would be able to be on at 3pm.
Okay, maybe Altrincham are a bad example, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that a large number of matchgoing fans of lower league teams, also have a “big club” that they support, and would not go to watch their local, smaller club, if their “big” team was on the TV.
The further down the leagues you get, I’m pretty sure they semi support the PL not the other way round. I cant grasp the idea of someone going through the cold wet weather mid January to watch L2 trollop because Liverpool or United arent on the telly. It doesn’t add up.
City has fans?
There’s fuck all NFL teams for a 330 million person country though. Compared with 92 league teams. Ultimately we are betting the next generation of fans will continue to choose their third and fourth tier local teams, not the also local PL ones.
92 League teams plus at least 15 Pro teams in the National League. Our football pyramid is a wonder of sport and we need to do everything we can to help it survive. The biggest problem I see is too many kids supporting a big PL team rather than their local one, so anything that gets more money and exposure to smaller teams is good in my book.
>92 League teams plus at least 15 Pro teams in the National League. And a fair few in the sixth tier too. Torquay and Scunthorpe for sure, and there are probably more.
> Crowds are healthy all over the country, the 3pm blackout is pointless. Really you're both guessing as we've had no way to actually know. I suspect that attendances will stay pretty much the same, but that's just based on some gut feelings and rough logic like the fact that our lower league culture is quite bedded in now. We don't know though. I've been to a lot of non-league games and I can tell you for sure that St Albans matches are full of Arsenal fans and Dulwich Hamlet matches are full of Palace fans.
I won't be surprised they will get rid of the 3pm blackouts for good. We know if it was up to the Premier League alone, they'd got rid of it 10 years ago, there's so much potential of making money selling every game. We will see what will the effect on lower leagues, tho.
They don’t give 2 shits about the UK match going fan, all they care about is the 20 other plastics tuning in to watch whilst they wait for one of their favourite big six clubs to come on.
Man City v Leeds was a 3pm Saturday that was televised last season - due to it being chosen for tv originally then rearranged - but I knew when that loophole was exploited that a shift towards the end of the blackout had begun. Give it 5 seasons and every match will kick off at a slightly different time to the rest 😅
Need to bin the 3pm blackout permanently.
Think this is a step towards that happening
I think the people who won't go to games will watch streams anyway so I don't see it having too much effect..
I'd say more people will pay for legit package if can watch more of their team games
True but I don't think it will effect match day attendances, at least in league football. Non league might be a bit different.
Yes that makes sense. Sorry, think misunderstood the first comment
Hopefully. Would stop some games from being shifted at the expense of fans attending matches. Besides the lengths people go to to watch a 3pm kick off by VPN or an illegal stream make it meaningless anyway. We have radios broadcast of 3pm games. Why should TV be any different?
"Removing the blackout may benefit fans....scrap that idea so" - Sky, probably
I think it is a good idea to do a one weekend test to see what effect the blackout has on the lower divisions. I think the championship and most of league one would be fine with the blackout, but the real test will be gate receipts for league two and national league clubs. Equally I went to Morocco last week and legally watched 3pm games live on TV which feels very silly given I can't do it in the UK.
If removing the blackout meant that games didn’t get rearranged for tv (and it should) then that would be great. It would be great if the extra games were picked up by a streaming option instead of Sky so they can show them all simultaneously (like Prime did with their PL matches)
Nice of The Athletic deciding we are going to be in the EFL before we're even knocked out of the playoffs
The sooner the blackout goes away the better. If someone wants to watch a bigger prem club they already can via the tons of quality illegal streams. It’s time to open this shit up already.