Boxing Day Football Blackout Due to TV Companies [UPDATED]

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Update 31 October: Single Boxing Day Football Premier League Fixture Confirmed

The Premier League have today confirmed that the only Boxing Day football in that division will be Man Utd vs Newcastle. It will kick off at 8pm. Thankfully, there is no Christmas Eve fixture this year, (who on Earth wants that?). However, the lack of action on 26th December will disappoint many fans.

As I outline below, the television companies must shoulder a large portion of the blame for this. The Premier League is not exempt from criticism, though. While there are complications due to the expanded European schedule, surely both parties could have found a compromise. The winners? The EFL, which has a full slate of games that day.

Elsewhere, there are going to be six matches on 30 December. Brentford vs Spurs and Sunderland vs Man City will take place on New Years Day. There are another six fixtures scheduled for 4th January. It’s all going to be shown on TV.

Original Story

Whether I’m going to the stadium or watching on TV with leftovers, Boxing Day football is one of my favourite Christmas traditions. I explained why the deluge of matches is so great in a piece for The Spectator. I’m not alone in enjoying it. Sadly, we will have no such pleasure this festive period, and the media look like it’s too blame. Per the Daily Mail, only one game is scheduled for Boxing Day 2025. This is so the Premier League can fufill its TV obligations.

Dominic King and Mike Keegan reported that “no final decision has been made”. However, the bank holiday falls on a Friday this year. The Premier League is “contractually obliged to deliver 33 weekends to broadcasters and needs to deliver on its promise”. Consequently, Boxing Day will have only the usual singular Friday Night Football match.This is likely to irritate a lot fans, who love the tradition of going to a match after Christmas Day.

A couple of things to note. There is a full slate of action in the lower divisions, which will be televised. The WSL has a winter break, so none of those games will be taking place and do not have to be fitted into the TV schedule.

Boxing Day Football Compromise Must be Found

Surely, a compromise can be found so that multiple Premier League matches take place on 26th December. Why can’t the TV companies agree that that particular Friday, on this particular year, counts as a weekend and accomodate something that fans actually like. I think I’ve probably answered my own question…

This was not a problem in recent years. Amazon had the rights to 20 games, including the 10 on the 26/27th December and one earlier in the month. That package was not offered in the 2023 auction. As Philip Buckingham explained for The Athletic, the smallest available package at the last auction was 33 games, picked up by TNT Sports, almost entirely for the 12.30pm Saturday slot.

The December TV fixture are not yet set. I’m sure football reporters will be happy to spend the day not working if nothing changes. However, I suspect there will be a fan backlash, the TV companies will relent and we will get more boxing day football than is currently expected. Maybe two or three games. There will have to be some sop to the broadcasters though, leaving the majority of matches for the weekend. (Does anyone even know what day of the week it is between Christmas Day and New Year anyway?)

Next year it won’t be an issue, because Christmas Day is a Friday. For now, you need to plan to have your turkey sandwiches watching It’s a Wonderful Life and Die Hard for the 100th time instead of boxing day football.