Premier League Considers Airing Saturday Night Matches in Coming Months

Premier League matches could soon be scheduled to be played on Saturday evenings, according to plans being discussed by league shareholders.

Scheduling a host of matches for a 7:45pm kick-off time was discussed at the summer league shareholders meeting last week ahead of the impending launch of the new tender process for the next domestic broadcast deal, as reported by The Telegraph.

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A final decision on match scheduling and broadcasting is expected to be made this autumn when rights for the 2019/20 - 2021/22 seasons are sold on.

Currently, 168 games are set to be broadcast throughout the duration of the 2017/18 campaign. Comparatively, there are plans to broadcast upwards of half of the 380 Premier League games played per season, with a figure in the region of 200+ being suggested.

Such plans would see an astronomical increase in the sum of £5.14 billion paid by Sky Sports and BT Sports for the rights to the 2016/17 - 2018/19 seasons.

Coverage of the Premier League has seen a huge surge since its inception in 1992, with 60 matches being broadcast between 1992-2001, 106 between 2001-04, 138 between 2004-13 and 154 between 2013-16.

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Of course the massive increase in matches broadcast and rights sold can be attributed to the lucrative disparity in wealth between Premier League sides and clubs in the lower leagues. 

Should such a deal be agreed upon, seeing a further 40+ matches being broadcast per season, the amount of cash in the pockets of Premier League clubs would only increase over the coming years.