Rejected petition Abolish the 3pm broadcasting blackout rule for Premier League football matches

Televised live football matches have been subject to a 3pm broadcasting blackout since the 1960’s, with the UK being the only country to have this rule in place. With match going fans struggling to buy tickets, it is wholly unfair that they are unable to view matches on television.

More details

With the average attendance in the 2022/2023 season standing at just 40,000, millions of football fans and supporters are punished on a weekly basis. Abolishing this rule would also potentially be a much needed boost for pubs and clubs, who should be able to show these matches live.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.

Decisions about when to hold and broadcast football matches are a matter for the FA, the Premier League and the Football League, and broadcasters, not the Government or House of Commons.

As a result it is not possible for the Government or House of Commons to take the action you have requested.

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 10 March 2024
Get petition data (json format)

About petition data

The data shows the number of people who have signed the petition by country as well as in the constituency of each Member of Parliament. This data is available for all petitions on the site. It is not a list of people who have signed the petition. The only name that is shared on the site is that of the petition creator.