Does Man Utd v Spurs not count as a big fixture? I'd certainly consider Liverpool v Arsenal in 2010 to be a major opening day fixture.

Whether or not it's made explicit in the tender, it certainly feels like the PL have tried to avoid double headers - certainly involving the old big four. I reckon the PL have sussed out that there is even more money to be made from having two competing broadcasters and the new packages try to give a bit to both.


In descending order here are the stories of interest on the opening day:

Leicester - Champions
Man Utd - Mourinho
Man City - Pep
Chelsea - Conte
Liverpool/Arsenal/Spurs - big teams
West Ham (if at home) - new stadium
Middlesbrough - first season back in PL since 2008-09
Everton - Koeman
Burnley/Hull - 'newly' promoted

So that's 12 teams (11.5 if you think West Ham only matters if they're at home) - so there will certainly be two playing each other (though I don't expect Burnley v Hull to be picked if that comes out!). The question is, will Sky prioritise a Liverpool over a Man City if the former is away at Middlesbrough and the latter at home to Watford?

Oh well, not long to wait now - I suppose it's like Christmas Eve.

I said earlier it is like Christmas.

After today's events at Everton, Southampton v Everton could be a tasty fixture whenever it is

Man U v Spurs is a 'big' fixture but one I would class as 'second tier'. For 'big' and 'sensitive', read Man U v Liverpool, Arsenal v Spurs etc. etc.

The frequency of 'big' fixtures on opening and closing day is extremely few and far between but as you point out, it has happened occasionally over the years but is still a rare occurrence.

A shame Sky have lost Ed Chamberlain, especially with this new Football Contract.

Guess we will get David Jones, but personally not to sure if he will be big enough to hold up Super Sunday.

Liverpool v Tottenham on the final day of the 2013/14 season could have been a big fixture

It probably never mattered, but in the old structure we assume BT controlled when they passed on their fourth pick. But actually there was a little complexity around the fact that Packages E and F also had second picks. So it was quite hard to say whether BT had complete control over passes - but they always managed to skip out the Cup semi and final weekends, so I guess they had some control.

In the new system, I am fairly sure that when BT use a first pick in Package B, Sky will not be able to force them to use a third pick in that package (and nor do I expect BT to be able to use a fifth pick). So while I think Package E will have control of third picks, it will have limitations. What I am expecting is for the weekend Package F (2nd and 4th picks) and G (third picks) to go pretty quickly as both Sky and BT try to save their better picks for later.

There is, however, one thing that's bothering me and that is the difference between Packages F and G in terms of kick off time. Is it significant that the former has the option of using the Sunday 12:00 and the latter doesn't? Is that an omission? Or does it reflect the fact that there are two more Package F games at the weekend. What it might mean is that Sky can't use a third pick in Package G when they've already used a first pick in D and a second pick in C, so BT would have to take a third pick in Package B if Sky passed it in Package E.

So to answer your question, I can remember the penny dropping in 2014 when you pointed out the ability for Sky to use two Bs or two Es in a single round. But I think the new packages are quite rigid in terms of time slot. The only case for two games from one package in a single weekend might be Package E having both a Friday and Monday game. But I do think that technically that will involve Sky using a fourth pick 'out of turn'.

Very interesting stuff.

The omission of Sun 12:00 in Package G had caught my eye too. One simple way of looking at it is that Package F may only be used to 'fill up' any gaps on a Sat and likewise Package G may only be used to plug any gaps on a Sun. Then the Sun 12:00 inclusion with Package F can be explained by the need to allow the possibility of a game needing moved due to one of the team's playing in EL the previous Thu. No such clause is needed for Package G in cases where a team is playing the following Tue since Sat only has two possible slots - essentially it's a no-go or a case of switching some of the already chosen games around. However that conveniently ignores the birth of the Fri slot!

I won't be able to post tomorrow until the evening, but I'll be reading closely.

Yeah, Sky could be allowed a swap with the Sat 12:45 slot. One thing that I will maintain, however, any games on Monday and Friday nights are in Package E. I am sure the smaller max quota for this package is a small nod to the match going fans.

The opening day of the league season falls on the same day as the 100m final. It's scheduled for 22:35 local time, which is like the early hours of the morning here. So doubt MOTD would be shifted.

All what I'm going by, was that during London 2012, the only thing BBC1 shown bar the Olympics, was the news, and the Lottery shows

I thought Sat 1245 had changed to 1230 or is it back to 1245?

No, it's 12:30 going forward. We're all so used to it being 12:45 that it will take a while to get used to!

Not long to go. Where are the inevitable false leaks?

My 'pointless' predictions:

Man U v Hull
West Ham v City
MIddlesbrough v Sunderland
Spurs v Burnley
West Brom v Chelsea
Liverpool v Leicester

Week 1: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ck-hgNcXIAE4fNB.jpg

Arsenal v Liverpool the standout game there.

West Ham not at home is a surprise.

Definite Sky first pick in Week 1:

Bournemouth v Man Utd
Arsenal v Liverpool
Hull v Leicester

Possibly Everton v Spurs or one of Chelsea v West Ham or Man City v Sunderland?

Maybe Sky will tempt BT with Everton v Spurs?

Oh look - there's the Leicester v Arsenal game in Week 2 - definite Monday night candidate - but probably relies on BT not using a first pick

TV games pick themselves there

Full list: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/n...ture-list.html

Midweek rounds on 13/14 December, 31 January/1 February, 4/5 April.

A few obvious picks:

Arsenal v LIverpool
Chelsea v West Ham
Hull v Leicester
Everton v Spurs

Then (unfortunately)

Bournemouth v United

Sky will get to utilize the Friday night slot in Week 4:

Liverpool v Leicester - Fri 20:00 and Manchester Derby Sat 12:45

Predictions for BT's midweek games:

13 December - Crystal Palace v Man Utd
14 December - Everton v Arsenal

31 January - Sunderland v Spurs
1 February - Liverpool v Chelsea

4 April - Man Utd v Everton
5 April - Chelsea v Man City

The first midweek is a punt, because there's no standout games. But BT will be delighted to have both Liverpool v Chelsea and Chelsea v Man City.

Boxing Day looks a bit "meh" from Sky's point of view. 2 January has Spurs v Chelsea and West Ham v Man Utd, but again not much else.

Man Utd have all of the other 6 teams involved in Europe at home in the first half of the season and away in the second half of the season.

Has anything like that ever happened before, with one team having such an unbalanced spread of home/away schedule in the two halves of the season against previous seasons top performed clubs?

I'm not happy about the midweek being on 13/14 December! As predicted, the midweek after the League Cup Final is blank.

BT will be delighted with two big games in the midweeks. Chelsea feature in both so that leave's them with one more Package F game.

Here are my predictions for the Bank Holidays:

Boxing Day:

Hull v Man City
Leicester v Everton
Southampton v Spurs
Burnley v Boro or Watford v Palace

New Year's Day:

Bournemouth v Arsenal
Sunderland v Liverpool
Spurs v Chelsea
West Ham v Man Utd

Liverpool in 2013-14 springs to mind.

Yes Liverpool last season had all the top teams away from home in the 1st half the season and home in the 2nd half of the season

Do BT get a 5:30pm game on NYE? How are they going to fit 4/5 games in that day, assume they may use Fri 30th for 1 game. Assume this is a normal weekend round with 26th Dec and 2nd Jan BH, 2nd Jan rules out NYD games. Will 31st Dec round be restricted to only 3 picks Fri night, Sat 1230 and Sat 530?