Eleven Sports has ignored the UK’s ‘3pm blackout’ rule for the second Saturday in a row, showing another LaLiga game that kicked off at 3:15pm UK time.
Eleven, which operates as a streaming platform in the UK, showed the match between Getafe and Levante on October 6, a week after showing the match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Both matches kicked off at 3:15pm UK time. It is understood LaLiga has tacitly allowed Eleven to show the matches.
Club football matches – domestic or international – are not permitted to be shown via any platform between the hours of 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturdays. The rule applies in both England and Scotland. The blackout is lifted during international breaks.
The rule is not based in UK law but is present in Uefa’s statutes. National associations and federations have the choice to enforce the rule nationally and receive the support of Uefa in doing so. Only the football associations of England, Scotland and Montenegro enforce the rule.
Eleven is not showing games from Serie A during the blackout period as it has not received any permission to do so from the league or the IMG agency – Serie A’s international rights-holder and a minority shareholder in Eleven’s UK operation.
Andrea Radrizzani, Eleven’s owner, is thought to want the 3pm blackout rule scrapped for non-domestic leagues. He is unhappy that Eleven cannot show every game from Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s LaLiga, especially major fixtures.
The platform was unable to show Juventus v Napoli in its entirety on September 30 due to the match kicking off at 5pm UK time. It did not show any of Roma v Lazio, which kicked off at 2:15pm on the same day.
The blackout rule has been enforced in the UK since 1964, when Burnley chairman Bob Lord convinced English Football League clubs that broadcasting matches live at 3pm on a Saturday would reduce match attendances.