Premier League CEO Richard Masters Addresses PPV Scandal

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has confirmed that there will be a ‘move away’ from the controversial pay-per-view broadcast model, with supporter feedback that saw a boycott of some £14.95 games a significant factor in the change of direction.

Pay-per-view was brought in as the Premier League and its broadcasting partners sought to return to a more normal schedule after showing every game live at no extra cost to existing subscriptions during ‘Project Restart’ at the tail end of last season and the start of 2020/21.

But October saw a drop to five games per week selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports and BT Sport, with the other five locked behind a further pay wall at nearly £15 for each game.

With stadiums still closed to the public and no other way to legally watch games, the response from fans was one of fury, while public figures like Gary Neville also blasted it. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley publicly criticised the price, even though his club ultimately backed the idea.

Many of the irate fans refusing to pay £14.95 to watch a one-off game of football at home on television opted to donate to charities and foodbanks instead, raising an estimated £300,000.

It was reported at the end of last week that the Premier League, who set the price rather than the broadcasters, was prepared to back down and pursue an alternative solution. Now, Masters has stated that is indeed the plan for the remainder of November, December and into January.

“We took a decision to move to pay-per-view and now we are reviewing that decision,” he said, appearing before the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

“We have listened to feedback, we will be changing direction and moving away from it and taking another step that will see us through lockdown, the Christmas period and into January. I can't announce what it is.”

One MP, Julian Knight, pointed out the gaping flaw in the pay-per-view model in that it risked driving fans to each other’s houses to share the cost of watching games, thereby increasing the potential of further spreading coronavirus - “What bright spark thought this was a good idea?” he remarked.

Even though Masters has not said what the new plan will be, last week’s reports suggested the most likely outcome could be a return to the previous model where every game is broadcast live at no extra cost to existing subscriptions, including free to air games on BBC Sport and Amazon Prime.

It is said that cheaper price points have been considered to continue the pay-per-view system, but that the whole thing has been such a disaster it was thought better to scrap it altogether.

Masters also addressed renewed calls for the Premier League to increase the permitted number of substitutions per team per game from three to five, which is still possible this season thanks to an extension of the temporary rule change from IFAB lawmakers.

Use of up to five subs is at the discretion of individual competitions, but the Premier League is the only major competition across Europe that has opted to drop back to three. It is a stance that has been criticised by Jurgen Klopp, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola.

But Masters said: “I don't see it changing for the foreseeable future...it's been voted on twice.”

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