Premier League pay-per-view comes at a price for locked out supporters

The league announced on Friday that all matches not already earmarked for live coverage would be available on one or other of the broadcasters’ Box Office services.

Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville criticised the pricing, which BT said would be £14.95 per match, and the Football Supporters’ Association said it had already heard from fans who were concerned about the cost.

A statement from the FSA read: “Today’s announcement shows that fan power works. At the start of this season the Premier League and its broadcasters had planned to leave match-going fans entirely locked out of their side’s matches; now thanks to the sustained pressure of our #LetUsWatch campaign all games will be available for fans.

“Many Premier League clubs have already taken money from fans, particularly season ticket holders, for matches they can’t attend so we urge them to get refunds out to those supporters as soon as possible.

“We’ve also already heard from many supporters and FSA members who are concerned about the £15 per game being charged and we’d urge BT Sport and Sky Sports to reconsider their pricing for these games.”

Sky Sports pundit Neville took to Twitter to add his criticism of the pricing.

“This is a really bad move by the @premierleague to charge £14.95 for single matches that have been shown free for 6 months !” he wrote on his official account.

BT Sport defended the move, and said in a statement: “With supporters still unable to return to stadiums, we want to help fans watch the games they would usually attend and clubs generate critical revenue.”

No decision has yet been made on how to divide up the revenue from the pay-per-view games between clubs.

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.