Why Is There A 3PM Football Blackout?

What Is The 3pm Blackout Rule?

The rule of the 3pm blackout on football in the UK is a very popular and controversial topic and is often questioned by fans of the game. The rule prevents football matches from being broadcast in the UK between 14:45 and 17:15, which was introduced in the 1960s to encourage fans to attend matches live, especially lower league matches, rather than watching games on television.

The rule includes any Premier League, EFL, FA Cup, Scottish Premiership, Scottish Professional Football League and Scottish Cup action from being shown on television at this time.

However, the blackout only comes into effect when over half of the weekend fixtures from the top two divisions of English football are scheduled to kick off at 3pm. Before the 2025/26 season, the TV rights deals with Sky Sports and TNT Sports were updated and they agreed to uphold the 3pm blackout rule until at least 2029, when the broadcasting contracts need renewing.

3PM BLACKOUT TO REMAIN 📺🚨

The Premier League is set to STICK to the 3pm blackout, according to an exclusive report… This means that 3pm fixtures on Saturday’s will NOT be broadcast live to viewers in the UK 🇬🇧

Despite this, EVERY other match will be live on television from… pic.twitter.com/nx9wGBEd4M

— The92Bible (@The92Bible) October 18, 2023

So, the question is, will the 3pm blackout rule still be used in 2029 and beyond? To many, it is seen as a relatively out-of-date and old-fashioned rule and there are multiple arguments as to why fans believe it should be abolished.

What Do Fans Think About The ‘Outdated’ Blackout Rule?

One argument that fans have is that these 3pm kick-offs are available to watch in multiple countries around the world but not in the country in which they are held. Therefore, if fans are to go on holiday to the United States for example, then they are able to watch their team play at 3pm on a Saturday but if they are sat in their living room in the UK, they are not able to.

The “3pm blackout” rule in football needs to go, it’s outdated and serves no purpose anymore

Let the fans watch their club without having to use these dodgy streaming sites pls 🙏

— SamTapTap (@SamTapTap) September 11, 2021

This then coincides with the next point, which is also against the 3pm blackout rule. The point is that, if the rule were abolished and fans were able to watch 3pm games on television, it would give people fewer reasons to watch these games on illegal pirate streams. This is something that is a huge problem in the UK and legal teams are constantly trying to crack down on the access to these illegal streams so surely getting rid of the blackout can only have a positive impact on this problem.

🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Illegal streaming of football is on the rise in the UK.

Almost five million people in the UK consumed pirated sports coverage during the past six months.

— @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/jSVPCdMPOr

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) November 9, 2025

However, another argument when it comes to the blackout rule is that prices for television subscriptions are already astronomically high, so would the abolishment of this rule lead to these prices being increased further by providers?

Finally, with the current cost of living crisis across the UK and the increases in day-to-day spending, some people possibly can’t afford to go to football games regularly.

Therefore, this rule is preventing fans from watching their teams, as going to watch them live is not always an option. So why should people in other countries be able to watch these matches but not a season ticket holder that is unable to fork out for an away day due to the travel, ticket and other costs to the day.

Will Abolishing This Rule Affect Matchday Attendances?

The main argument for bringing this rule in to begin with is that they wanted to encourage people to attend live games. Many fans like to attend games live to soak in the matchday atmosphere and maybe enjoy a beer or a burger with friends and family as the highlight of their weekend so abolishing this rule should not impact these attendances.

As mentioned earlier in the article, illegal streams are becoming a lot more popular and accessible so you would assume that if any match going fans would like to watch their teams on television, they would use these illegal streams. Therefore, changing the blackout rule shouldn’t sway their decision from entering turnstiles on Saturday afternoons.