Why is Man Utd v Aston Villa not live on UK TV?
Robin Bairner
- 25 Sep 2021 04:39 CDT
- 3 min read
Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa may be an early kick off, but it will not be televised in the UK.
Viewers have grown used to watching early Saturday matches on television, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. will be seeking to go top of the Premier League in a match that locals will only be able to watch live at Old Trafford.
Similarly, Ronaldo’s Man Utd debut against Newcastle was not broadcast in the UK, although that was because it was a 3pm kick off.
There is a different set of circumstances here.
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Why is Man Utd v Aston Villa an early kick off?
Manchester United’s match against Aston Villa has been moved forward at the request of the local police.
The reason this has been done is because there is a music concert nearby during the evening. The Courteeners will play the Old Trafford cricket ground, which is only half a mile from the football stadium of the same name.
Meanwhile, gates for that event are open at 4:30pm. That could have caused major disruption if Man Utd supporters were leaving as the music fans were gathering. Also, it would have further stretched police resources.
Why is the game not on TV?
With the Man Utd game not being a 3pm kick off, it is not subject to blackout regulations in the UK. However, the contractual agreement between local broadcasters means that the prospect of getting this fixture on live TV was a non-starter.
BT Sport have the rights for the Saturday lunchtime matches in the UK and elected to have the Chelsea against Manchester City fixture for this weekend.
Sky Sports would not have been contractually able to show a rival match at the same time, particularly one of the magnitude that Man Utd against Aston Villa promises to be.
