Manchester City’s match against Leeds United at home is set to be televised despite being moved to a 15:00 BST kick-off on a Saturday, the Premier League has announced. The match was originally scheduled for Sunday, 7 May, but had to be moved due to its proximity to City’s Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, 9 May. The usual Saturday 12:30 BST live broadcast slot was avoided in order to not clash with the King’s coronation. A later kick-off was not possible due to police resourcing. Article 48 of the Football Association’s rulebook prevents the televised broadcast of games at any level in England between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday, which is a rule that dates back to the 1960s and is designed to protect lower-league attendances by preventing live football matches from being televised which could mean fewer fans going to games in person. However, since there are no EFL games on 6 May, with the final round of the Championship, League One and League Two fixtures being played on Sunday, 7 May and Monday, 8 May, the match will remain live on Sky Sports in the UK, subject to further consultation with relevant stakeholders.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said last month that they were not considering changing their support for the blackout “in the near term”. In the current TV rights deal, which runs to 2025, half of all Premier League games are not put up for broadcast in England, though foreign broadcasters are still able to bid for rights. The English Football League had been open to considering scrapping the Saturday 3pm blackout to raise revenue as part of its most recent TV rights negotiations, with reports suggesting streaming platform DAZN wanted to show every game live. However, live TV coverage now looks set to stay on Sky Sports after it was named as the preferred bidder for 2024 onwards.
The 3pm blackout was lifted as part of ‘Project Restart’ during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow supporters to watch games when they were played behind closed doors, but then imposed again once fans were allowed back into stadiums. Pep Guardiola’s City face defending champions Real Madrid over two legs in the last four of the Champions League, with the first leg on 9 May. They are also second in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Arsenal with two games in hand, and remain on course for the Treble as they face Sheffield United in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final (16:45 BST). City host Mikel Arteta’s side at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, after which they will have seven Premier League games remaining, including a match at Brighton, which has been rescheduled for Wednesday, 24 May. The final games of the Premier League campaign will be played on Sunday, 28 May.