Sky will have a chance to showcase its Sky Sports service to new potential customers when the 2019-2020 English Premier League season returns from 17 June. All 92 remaining fixtures will be televised in the UK, with Sky Sports showing 64 games. Of these, 25 will be shown free-to-air, creating an opportunity for Premier League fans who don’t currently subscribe to Sky to experience the matchday broadcast. Of the Ampere Consumer survey respondents who are willing to pay to watch the Premier League, 64% have access to the Sky Sports and BT Sport channels which show the majority of the competition’s televised fixtures. With these free-to-air games, Sky therefore has a chance to attract the remaining 36% of Premier League fans who are willing to pay to watch matches (as well as the 12% who take only BT Sport) and to convert casual viewers into potential long-term paying customers.

It is likely that Premier League fixtures will take place behind closed doors for a prolonged period of time and, with public viewing establishments such as pubs and bars currently closed, the in-home TV broadcast of matches is now all the more valuable for fans. During lockdown the operator has allowed customers to pause their Sky Sports subscriptions while sports competitions globally have been put on hold, but this new opportunity for subscriber growth gives Sky the opportunity to come out of the pandemic strongly.

As well as the chance to attract new subscribers, Sky will also receive financial aid from the Premier League in the form of a rebate due to contractual obligations being unfulfilled following the suspension of matches in March. Sky was due to show 39 more fixtures in the season, while BT had eight more games to broadcast. Taking into account the value of the Premier League broadcast rights deals for the two operators, Ampere estimates that these remaining fixtures were worth approximately £415m in total for Sky and BT. The rebate is expected to be worth £330m according to industry reports, shared between the two operators, which equates to 80% of the value of the remaining games which were set to be televised. If all matches are now completed by 2 August, reports suggest the rebate could fall to £170m, or 40% of the value of the outstanding fixtures, with the majority of this figure going to Sky. Receiving this rebate money, as well as being able to show the remaining fixtures, means the return of the Premier League is a positive result for Sky.