On Saturday afternoon, Sky Sports violated the 3 p.m. Premier League blackout by displaying footage from Manchester City’s match versus Brighton & Hove Albion, before rapidly cutting away.
Sky Sports inadvertently broke the 3pm blackout on Saturday afternoon when Football Saturday aired video from Manchester City‘s match against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad.
The broadcaster aired a tape of England full-back Kyle Walker clipping a long-ball to the Norwegian striker three minutes into the game, which Man City went on to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez. The film was shown for a few seconds before being removed from the air.
After being brought down, the Soccer Saturday camera quickly focused on Clinton Morrison, a former Crystal Palace and Birmingham City striker who was summing the game for Sky. And live viewers were quick to notice their blunder.
“Soccer Saturday accidentally showing City v Brighton there,” one fan wrote on social media. Please keep it on.” Another person commented, “P*** take knowing they can show em and just don’t.”
Another user commented: “I see football Saturday is still a mess bringing up the wrong graphics, showing a live feed of the Man City Brighton game.” And a fourth said, “Sky Sports News just accidentally showed some of the Manchester City game.”
Sky Sports’ film is expected to reignite debate over whether it is fair in this day and age for football supporters to be unable to legally see their team play on a Saturday afternoon if they cannot acquire a ticket to the game. While millions of people outside of the UK are able to watch the Premier League on a weekly basis, local supporters are forced to pay exorbitant fees for various package subscriptions in order to see just a portion of the action.
The 3 p.m. blackout, on the other hand, is in place for a reason: to protect the attendance of teams at the bottom of the football pyramid.
As things stand, no Premier League or EFL game may be broadcast live on TV on Saturday afternoon between 2:45pm and 5:15pm. It was also announced earlier this week that the 3 p.m. blackout will stay in effect.
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