Premier League: Sky acquires the TV rights for 33 more matches per season in Ireland (for 2016-2019)

The British pay-TV group Sky plc has acquired the rights to broadcast 33 Barclays Premier League matches per season, in Ireland, for the 2016-2019 cycle, on 12/11/2015.

The lot, which was held for the 2013-2016 period by the pay-TV group Setanta Sports, corresponds to matches which kick-off on Saturday at 16:00 CET and therefore can not be broadcast live on television in England.

This is due to a British law which banned the live television broadcast of football matches in England on Saturday between 15:45 and 18:15 CET, in order to encourage fans to go to the stadium to watch matches and also in order to limit the consumption of alcohol in English pubs and bars on Saturday afternoons.

With this new acquisition, the amount of which was not disclosed, Sky Sports will broadcast 159 Premier League matches live in Ireland each season from 2016 to 2019, compared to 126 in England. Only Sky and BT Sport will broadcast matches of the English division in Ireland from 2016-17.

• The "blocked hours" of TV coverage listed by UEFA and the FA, in respect of British law, are identical in England…