The scheme will be abandoned until the end of 2020 at least
The Premier League is set to abandon its controversial pay-per-view match scheme after widespread boycotts from supporters put pressure on the league.
According to The Times, while an official decision is yet to be made, it’s understood that all 20 Premier League clubs have agreed that no matches will be shown on PPV from the beginning of lockdown until the end of the year.
Matches due to be shown on PPV this weekend, however, will still go ahead on the platform, due to the fact that a number of subscriptions have already been sold.
Under the terms of the PPV programme, certain matches were only viewable live by paying a fee of £14.95, on top of basic subscription fees paid to either BT Sport and Sky Sports.
All revenue, it has been reported, went to Premier League clubs, rather than the broadcasters.
Aww, what a shame pic.twitter.com/mQvwHADMyz
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 5, 2020
From the outset of the scheme, there has been widespread criticism of the Premier League from both supporters groups and journalists. The aforementioned broadcasters, too, are understood to have grown uncomfortable with the growing discontent over the scheme and the damage to their reputations.
As a result of the numerous boycotts around the country, football fans have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for food banks and charities by donating the PPV fee rather than paying for the matches.
According to recent reports, Premier League clubs were dismayed at the viewing figures for certain matches, with as few as 10,000 viewers tuning in for a number of fixtures.
