Live televised football could soon be on the way back … from China!
And that would present a major bonus for little known satellite broadcaster Freesports who could could cash in on the global sporting shutdown after snapping up the UK TV rights for the Chinese Super League, which is set to become the first major football competition to return to action.
The Mail reports at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-8185415/Sky-BT-want-broadcast-games-season-price-not-demanding-compensation.html that the CSL – which would perhaps give Hammers fans the possibility of taking a look at where Marko Arnautovic is with his game these days – was suspended indefinitely on 22 February.
But clubs began training again last month after lock down restrictions were lifted by the government and there are plans for a resumption at the end of April or the beginning of May.
And that sort of timetable gives more hope that the Premier League – if the United Kingdom follows the same sort of pattern as the country in which the present problems started – cpuld be seeing players back in action earlier than the pessimists among us had believed.
We keep hoping regardless and the Chinese development via Freesports could certainly lift spirits a little more and meanwhile we may have the chance of watching former PL stars in action anyway.
The same sort of timetable as is being started in China would mean that live games here would probably begin in July presumably after high profile training games against clubs are put in place as a mini pre-season ahead of a completion of the 2019/20 campaign.
That would quite possibly mean the 20/21 season staring later with stripped down FA and EFL Cup campaigns included although at this stage that is difficult to call with ant degree of accuracy.
Freesports are expecting to have live sport to show at a time when all other broadcasters are desperate for content, so may sell the rights on to rivals such as Sky Sports or use the opportunity for a marketing campaign to gain more subscribers.
