Virgin Media want all 380 Premier League games live on TV

Football fans are hitting back in the row over Premier League TV rights following Virgin Media’s demand for all 380 matches a season to be shown live on television in future.

Virgin was the loser in the most recent auction of rights in the UK, with Sky paying £4.2bn (€5.7bn) for 126 games per season and BT taking 42 games for £960m (€1.3bn), an 80% increase on the current deal.

At the heart of that deal are two main pillars: A commitment by the Premier League for clubs to sell rights collectively and a promise to protect the 3pm blackout window (between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday) to safeguard attendance in lower league football.