For the second year in a row, the biggest match in world Football – El Clásico – has been scheduled for a rather inconvenient time for Football Fans in the UK. The match on 3rd December has been scheduled for 16:15 local time, which in the UK will clash with an FA ruling that does not allow any football to be aired between 14:45 and 17:15 UK time on a Saturday in order to encourage fans to go to matches.  

Interestingly though, this is the second year in a row that La Liga has scheduled the biggest club fixture in the world for this time slot. Following the recent £5 billion TV deal that the Premier League received earlier in 2016, there has been a concerted effort by other leagues throughout the world to try and eat into the worldwide audience of the Premier League. I mean, you couldn’t blame someone for choosing El Clásico over West Brom-Watford, which is almost definitely the other big fixture of that weekend obviously. Although it is a frustrating development for British Football Fans, it’s understandable from the point of view of La Liga as it’s the best way to attract viewers away from the Premier League.

However, as recent statistics have shown, the number of people watching Sky Sports for football, who provide coverage of La Liga in the UK, has actually dropped. This may be down to a number of things, their prices, competition from BT Sport, but also streaming. Despite the ban on broadcasting in the UK, there is no such issue in other countries like the US, who will provide coverage of El Clásico which may well be watched my many in the UK illegally.

El Clásico is one of the most highly anticipated fixtures in football in general, and the UK is no different and with the way that the La Liga season has gone so far, it’ll be hard to call a favourite until closer to the time. So, without doubt it is a shame for British football fans. They should be allowed to watch the world’s greatest club fixture. But can you blame La Liga for taking advantage of the rule to attract viewers? Also, do we really want to sacrifice the unique rule of no televised games at 3pm on a Saturday? I’d say no, it’s a real positive of English football.

It’s undeniably hugely frustrating for football fans in Great Britain that El Clásico will not be shown live on TV on 3rd December, but arguably Sky loses out most here. Fans will still watch it via other coverage from different countries, but Sky will not reap the benefits. Having said all that, personally I don’t think the rule should change. I mean, it’s highly likely that a number of fans around the UK wouldn’t go to their local team’s match if El Clásico was on at the same time. Even in Great Britain the match is one of the biggest of the season. So whilst it is annoying, I don’t think the FA and the league organisations should compromise on their admirable rule that encourages fans to go to games. Football is about more than just the big teams.

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