BBC to show a Premier League matche

Premier League scraps pay-per-view with BBC and Amazon Prime to show matches

The Premier League has scrapped its pay-per-view method for matches until at least the new year, and some fixtures will now be shown on the BBC.

Fulham's game against Everton on Sunday, 22 November (12:00 GMT) will be screened live on BBC One.

The Premier League said all remaining games in November and over the Christmas and New Year period will be shown on existing broadcast services.

The £14.95 pay-per-view fee was introduced in October.

It led to significant protests among fan groups and more than £300,000 has been raised for charity by fans boycotting pay-per-view games after top-flight clubs voted 19-1 in favour of the "interim solution".

Now, the Premier League has reverted to the model used in September, in which all 28 Premier League matches were shown live with all broadcast partners - Sky Sports, BT Sport, the BBC and Amazon Prime - screening matches.

It has announced the broadcast selections for the rest of this month, with the competition resuming after the international break on Saturday, 21 November.

The selections for December and January will follow later.

"There is a full schedule of Premier League games over the festive period and clubs are committed to an accessible solution for fans," said the Premier League in a statement.

"These plans have been made with the cooperation of our broadcast partners, working with us to deliver these additional matches while stadiums are missing the supporters who are such an integral part of the game.

"The agreement will be reviewed in the new year following consultation with clubs, broadcast partners and in line with any decisions made by government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums."

Spectators have been unable to attend Premier League games since football was halted on 13 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

After the restart of the 2019-20 season, the BBC broadcast its first live Premier League matches, one of which - Southampton's 1-0 win over Manchester City - became the most-watched game in the UK in the league's history, attracting 5.7 million viewers.

In December, two full sets of fixtures will be broadcast on Amazon Prime - on 15/16 December and 28 December - as part of its standard broadcast deal with the Premier League.

I never watch PL games as a matter of principle.