Top 5: time slots of matches in 2016-17 range from 23 in Spain to 6 in Germany

LaLiga Santander is the European Top 5 league which has used the most different slots (23) during the 2016-17 season (mid-week matchdays were not taken into account for this study). Of those 23 slots, only 10 occur regularly. The Bundesliga is the Top 5 league with the lowest number of time slots (six in total, five of which are recurring). The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are the only Top 5 leagues which do not hold any matches on Monday nights (however, this time slot is already planned for the Bundesliga starting from 2017-18).

LaLiga Santander, the Serie A TIM, and the Premier League have time slots that maximise the exposure of their league internationally, particularly in Asia. These three leagues accomplish this by scheduling matches in the very early afternoon. To obtain increased visibility in Asia, LaLiga Santander added a time slot on Saturdays at 13:00 CET. The Spanish league last season already had a time slot on early Sunday afternoon.

There is a wide disparity in the Top 5 leagues regarding scheduling in prime time, with four time slots in Spain in the evenings, to only one…