As we stretch into the strange period between Christmas and New Year, there’s still plenty of festive football to gorge on.
There were no Premier League matches today (Saturday) but the action resumes on Sunday with six games, followed by three on Monday and one on New Year’s Day (Wednesday).
But unlike the last round of games, which were all available to viewers in the UK on Amazon Prime on Boxing Day and December 27, only a handful will be available to watch on British television in the coming days.
This Crimbo limbo period kicks off on Sunday with Leicester City at home to struggling Manchester City at 2.30pm, followed by West Ham playing high-flying Liverpool at 5.15pm, with both games on Sky Sports.
The unusual kick off time of 5.15pm at the London Stadium was selected by Sky to avoid any overlapping with the 3pm kick offs (there is a full EFL schedule on Sunday, too).
On Monday night, Manchester United’s clash against Newcastle United is shown at 8pm on Sky Sports, while Brentford v Arsenal is TNT’s pick for this gameweek, at 5.30pm on New Year’s Day.
Amazon Prime’s six years of hosting Premier League football came to an end on Friday night, with Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town at the Emirates Stadium.
Amazon Prime’s final Premier League broadcast came at Arsenal on Friday evening (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Since 2019, Amazon had shown two 10-game rounds each campaign, costing around £30million ($37.7m), which included a midweek round in early December and then the festive fixtures that immediately follow Christmas, the popular Boxing Day slot. Amazon’s deal was initially for three years but was extended for a further three because of the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.
However their 20 game package was no longer available when the new domestic TV deal, for the four seasons starting from the 2025-26 campaign, went out for tender. They will, though, still show Champions League matches next season.
Under the current TV deal, in addition to the aforementioned 20 games on Amazon Prime, Sky show 128 games while TNT have 52, and the upcoming round of fixtures (kicking off with Leicester v Manchester City) simply fall within that framework.
Amorim’s Manchester United face Newcastle on Monday (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
What about the rest of the festive period?
There were no Premier League fixtures on Saturday.
In fact, there was no football on show in any of England’s top four tiers on December 28, the first Saturday during a season without any football since Christmas Eve 2022, according to Opta.
There are also no Premier League fixtures on December 31, January 2 and 3.
The next Premier League gameweek runs from January 4 to January 6, before the next round of league matches on January 14 to 16, with the League Cup semi-finals and FA Cup third round sandwiched in-between.
There is no two-week winter break this Premier League season, which had been in place since the 2019-20 season, as there was a longer summer to allow players to rest and recover after Euro 2024 and the Copa America.
However, mindful of the busy schedule and players’ ever increasing workload, no Premier League club will play within 60 hours of another match between December 21 and January 5, the Premier League explained on their website. Every team plays four games over the 16-day festive period.
As Boxing Day fell on a Thursday this year, this meant there were no games on Saturday — which explains why there are plenty of 3pm fixtures on Sunday.
Essentially, this Sunday is operating as a Saturday in broadcasting terms.
Festive football is an integral part of the Premier League season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Could next year look different?
It will, yes.
Under the new £6.7billion TV domestic deal that was agreed last December, Sky Sports and TNT Sports will show up to 270 live games a season.
Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 games, while TNT have a minimum of 52 matches. That deal runs for four years from next season.
The Saturday 3pm blackout — a rule that was first introduced in 1960 and designed to protect attendances at lower league matches across the country — will continue.
However the biggest change is that all games outside that window will now be broadcast live, so games moved from Saturdays to Sundays for teams playing in European competition on Thursdays will be available to UK viewers from 2025-26.
It’s worth noting, though, that a repeat of this season’s calendar would not see Sky showing the 3pm Sunday games as this is effectively a Saturday moved on 24 hours.
Sky Sports have the rights to Saturday 5.30pm kick-offs, Sunday 2pm and 4.30pm games, as well as evening matches on Mondays and Fridays, and three midweek rounds. They will also show all 10 matches on the final day of each season for the first time ever.
TNT will show all 12.30pm kick-offs on Saturdays and two midweek match rounds.
GO DEEPER
English football’s 3pm blackout must be protected and maintained
What about in the U.S.?
Unlike in the UK, all Premier League matches over the festive season are available to watch in the U.S..
For the next run of matches, Leicester v Manchester City, Fulham v Bournemouth, Tottenham v Wolves, Crystal Palace v Southampton (all on Sunday), Aston Villa v Brighton and Ipswich v Chelsea (both on Monday) are on Peacock Premium.
Meanwhile Everton’s game against Nottingham Forest, West Ham v Liverpool, Manchester United v Newcastle and Brentford v Arsenal will air on USA Network and Fubo.
(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
