The Manchester derby is set to take place this weekend, but fans may have noticed that the match is being played at an unusual time. Instead of the usual slot reserved for the Premier League’s marquee weekend game, the match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford will kick off at 3:30pm GMT/11:30am ET, an hour earlier than usual.
This change in schedule has had a knock-on effect on other matches as well. The first of Sunday’s televised matches, West Ham vs Everton, will be played at 1pm GMT/9am ET instead of the usual 2pm slot it would occupy. So why exactly is the Manchester derby starting early today?
The TV fixtures for October were announced back in August, and the Manchester derby was one of the first matches to be allocated a slot. According to a statement on the Manchester United website, the unusual start time was agreed upon following consultation between the clubs, the broadcaster, and local authorities.
The “local authorities” in question include the police, who are generally keen for games between rivals to be played as early in the day as possible. This is done to help reduce the amount of disorder caused around the match. The idea behind this is that fans will have less time to congregate before the game and are therefore less likely to be involved in antisocial behavior.
This isn’t the first time that marquee derbies in the Premier League have been played in earlier slots this season. The Merseyside derby, for example, was played at 12:30pm last Saturday, and the north London derby took place at 2pm on Sunday, September 24.
To understand why these changes in kick-off times are possible, it’s important to know the traditional Premier League kick-off times. The current domestic Premier League TV deal is split into seven packages, which offer a total of 20 live matches. These packages include kick-off times such as Saturday 12:30pm, Saturday 5:30pm, Sunday 2pm (24 matches) and Saturday 7:45pm (8 matches), Sunday 4:30pm, Monday 8pm or Friday evening (24 matches) and Sunday 2pm (8 matches), one set of Bank Holiday fixtures and one set of midweek fixtures, and two sets of midweek fixtures.
Sky Sports dominates the current UK cycle with the rights to packages B, C, D, and E, which equate to 128 matches per season. Packages A and G are owned by TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), and Amazon Prime has also entered the space in recent years by acquiring package F. This broadcasting cycle began at the start of last season and will run until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
However, there are changes on the horizon for the next broadcasting cycle. The Athletic recently reported that the new cycle will increase the number of live games to 270. Tenders are being invited for five live packages, instead of the current seven. It’s worth noting that games played at 3pm on a Saturday will still not be broadcast in the UK as part of the new cycle.
In conclusion, the Manchester derby is starting early today due to consultation between the clubs, the broadcaster, and local authorities. The aim is to reduce disorder and antisocial behavior by giving fans less time to congregate before the game. This change in kick-off time is not uncommon for marquee derbies in the Premier League, as other rival matches have also been played in earlier slots this season. As the Premier League TV deal undergoes changes for the next cycle, there will be an increase in the number of live games, but games played at 3pm on a Saturday will still not be broadcast in the UK.