UK Premier League TV viewers lose out: More money, fewer matches | OneFootball

British football fans are spending more than anyone else in the western world to watch the Premier League on television, and yet they still do not get to see every match.

According to a comparative study by SeatPick, UK viewers are paying up to 408% more than Australians for a significantly smaller share of the season’s games, with the 3pm Saturday blackout continuing to deny domestic audiences access to one in every three fixtures.

For the 2025–26 season, UK fans will pay £564 per year for subscriptions to Sky Sports and TNT Sports, a price that grants access to just 267 of the 380 Premier League matches.

In stark contrast, viewers in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States will all be able to watch every single match live, and for far less money.

Australian fans, for example, pay just £111 a year through Optus Sports for full access. That’s less than a quarter of the UK price.

Canada offers another striking difference: through FuboTV, viewers pay just £196 for all 380 games.

Even in the United States, where access comes via Sling TV and Peacock, the annual cost sits at £487, giving fans the entire fixture list at their fingertips.

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The disparity is sharpened by the fact that UK viewers, despite being the domestic audience, are the only major fanbase prevented from watching Saturday 3pm kick-offs live. The blackout, introduced to protect lower league attendances, remains firmly in place.

A recent attempt to address this imbalance in Parliament failed decisively. An amendment proposing that at least 10 Premier League games be made free-to-air was rejected by 340 votes to 86.

Subscription costs have risen 60% since 2020, and that inflation has led to a sharp spike in demand for unofficial alternatives. Google searches for “where to watch Premier League for free” have risen 160% in the past month alone, suggesting growing discontent among UK fans as the cost of living squeezes people in the UK from all directions.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

SeatPick’s research also draws attention to the fact that the £564 cost of a TV subscription is now almost as much as an average Premier League season ticket, which currently stands at £618.

There is little indication that the Premier League or broadcasters intend to remedy the situation. Instead, UK fans find themselves paying the highest rates for the least access, their loyalty monetised more aggressively than that of any other audience in world football, while politicians seem more than happy to let this continue.

Arsenal’s opening six Premier League fixtures have all been selected for TV coverage.