Potential TV rights change that would big impact on Premier League and EFL clubs

For a number of years the UK has remained the last country in Europe to apply what is known as a 3pm blackout - with the Premier and EFL unable to sell rights for Saturday 3pm kick offs.

The latest TV rights deals involving both saw a record number of live games agreed to, with 270 in the Premier League and 1,059 in the EFL.

Now the two bodies want to make a change and are keen to sell the rights to all their games in the next rights cycle.

Both have concluded that the only way to bring in more revenue is to sell the rights to every game.

Although current rights contracts do not expire until the end of the 2028/29 season - the EFL is planning to go to the market in 2027 and wants to know what it will be able offer broadcasters.

The EFL  deal is currently worth £935m over five years - while the Premier League domestic deal is at around £6.7m.

According to reports in the Guardian, many of the Premier League clubs' US owners have been pushing for every game to be broadcast - as happens in every sport.

The blackout is part of the Article 48 of UEFA's statutes, under which the transmission of live football in a territory can be prohibited for 'two and a half hours on a Saturday or Sunday'.

According to regulations, it applies in an English leagues context when 50 per cent of the Premier League and Championship games are scheduled for Saturday at 3pm, a proviso that enabled the EFL to televise all its games on the opening weekend this season because the Premier League did not begin until the following week.

The FA is the body that can apply to UEFA to lift the ban, is not expected to object to the blackout being dropped.