Jeff Stelling: ‘Greedy’ Premier League broadcast decision will be ‘the end’ of lower league clubs

Jeff Stelling fumes this week that the ‘greedy’ Premier League broadcast decision will be ‘the end’ of lower league clubs.

He spoke while presenting on talkSPORT, expressing strong concerns regarding the potential abolition of the 3pm football blackout in the UK.

Stelling argues that lifting the blackout would detrimentally impact lower league clubs, suggesting that if fans could watch Premier League matches live at 3pm on Saturdays, attendance at lower league games could plummet, potentially leading to the financial ruin and eventual disappearance of these clubs.

His argument highlights the protective nature of the blackout rule, which has historically aimed to maintain attendance at smaller clubs by preventing live broadcasts of top-tier matches during this time slot.

This perspective is shared by fellow pundit Ally McCoist, who agrees with Stelling, emphasising that the move would be driven by greed, ultimately widening the financial gap between the Premier League and lower league clubs.

Jeff Stelling said: “So the headline should read, ‘Greedy Premier League, it’s all about us. You lot, you can go and do one, we don’t care about you’.

“There’s no point in comparing it with European leagues for a start because football in England, the pyramid, is totally different. In this country, people care about teams in the Championship, in League One, in League Two, in the National League.

“It seems the Premier League don’t care at all and frankly, the fact that the Premier League or whoever it is, are saying that they’re worried about illegal streaming, so what?

“Tell the TV companies to cut the price of subscriptions and that will stop people streaming things illegally instead. They’ve got to start to look after the lower league sides.

“If Grimsby are playing Morecambe, Saturday afternoon and it’s cold, wet and miserable, and Manchester United against Manchester City is on TV live at 3pm, how many people are going to go to Grimsby against Morecambe?

“I can tell you how many: a big, fat zero, and that will be the end of clubs at a lower level.”

Ally McCoist said: “Agreed, you’re 100 per cent right mate.

“Spoken from the heart, spoken with passion from a Hartlepool supporter, it’s impossible to argue with anything you’ve said, you’re just factually correct.

“It’s all about the rich getting richer and the poor, they’re going to disappear, they’re going to disappear, it’s very, very sad.

“Do you know what it is? The word Jeff, is greed, it’s appalling actually, to tell you the truth, it really is.”

Stelling then said to a fan who sent a message into the show to ask what difference it would make to show games at 3pm.

He said: “Simon, it makes a difference, not to your team, you might miss a game, but it makes a massive difference to other teams who are less fortunate.

“It’s a collective that we’re talking about in football, not individual teams!”

This is what fans are saying as Jeff Stelling fumes that the ‘greedy’ Premier League broadcast decision will be ‘the end’ of lower league clubs…

@AlanBiggs1: He’s right. It’s a gradual sell-out on the live matchday experience. Everything is geared to TV & TV audiences. Kick-off times, VAR, you name it. All to feed the rich. The game is about getting out of your house to support your team. Lose that, lose it all.

@rkhargreaves: Sky and the EFL have already started moving matches away from 3pm on Saturday to avoid the blackout. At least 10 matches across the Champ, L1 and L2 all at 12:30pm now. It’s all killing football. Think we’re gonna start seeing crowds drop massively from next season.

@Punkdude1981: Absolute bang on by the great @JeffStelling

@ready1878: @JeffStelling talking absolute dross. Thinking league 1 will suffer because people will stay in and watch brentford v Palace. 3pm kick off’s for over 10 years always been the nothing games. All big games televised anyway.

@ColinPep1: @JeffStelling @Ally_McCoist9 @talkSPORT Blackout must stay. You get a wet November afternoon and people can either watch a Premier League game on TV in the warm or go and stand in the rain to watch their non-league game – they are going to stay at home.

@LaneHusband1: Well said, Jeff. 👏👏 The 3pm blackout is pure greed. The game has moved on and so should this. When this deal ends give fans an affordable platform with access to all their Club’s games. STOP EXPLOITING FANS’ LOYALTY!!!! #NUFC #PremierLeague #EFL #FootballLeague #NationalLeague #Talksport

@tclarey90: I feel they are missing the point here for most fans. It’s not necessarily about having more football on television. It’s about being able to watch all of the matches that the team you support plays like people all over the world can already do.

@jimmyd707: When are the idiots who run football going to realise I’d you give us ALL the football on a simple app for £20 a month and you’ll probably sell 30 million subscriptions in UK alone. And no one would watch illegal. And if people want to go and watch their local club they will… Regardless of whats on a 3pm.

@jonesy1328: How about giving people a choice? it’s stupid to argue you watch 10 games a week and therefore don’t need a 3pm game on Saturday therefore, someone else can’t watch their team on a Saturday. Jeff argues lower league fans love their teams as much as Premier league fans therefore, what is the issue? they will still turn up if Villa v Southampton is shown at 3pm on a Saturday.

@Drunken_Horse: Imagine if cinemas said “we won’t show the best movies you want of a weekend because no one will go watch the not so good movies otherwise” football is entertainment if the smaller clubs can’t attract a crowd by themselves they either need to live within their means or go bust.

@robnaylor7731: Move the main Premier League window off Saturday at 3pm. People can go to their local team for live football and then pile into the pubs directly after for the premier league on tele.

@ajjo-ni8mw: They’re not really supporters of there local club if they want to watch premier league clubs if it’s on the telly!!

@robz8701: Stelling is so naive. Fans who support lower league teams won’t all of a sudden watch Prem games at the same time. Live football is unique, always will be and has much more appeal

@pearcegreatesteverleftback03: Jeff Stelling… the man who presented SSN which became a ppv channel had working class fans paying the premium to watch multi millionaires getting paid to watch matches for free so don’t come crying about this!

@nishanthkumar6077: This is tautological. If football is special here, why do you need a blackout for people to support their local football club?

@DragonflyUK1907: If a Grimsby “fan” as you say won’t go and watch Grimsby play because the weather is miserable and he or she would rather stay home and watch a united match at 3pm then brave the weather for their beloved club…. Are they even a real Grimsby fan in the first place. We are being rinsed in the UK as fans, we pay the most and have the least availability around the world for the club we support and the matches we are allowed to watch live. Its a extortion and as soon as the prem go solo the sooner I can tell £100 amonth sky to do one! who BTW broadcast their matches in 480p or something silly you have to pay for a upgrade to make it watchable !

@Teezy_Ty: The sooner it goes the better. Why should fans not be able to watch their teams play at 3pm if they can’t get a ticket to watch the game. When I lived abroad I could watch any game I wanted at a fraction of the price. Here in the UK I have to pay over £100 and I still cannot watch my team play all of their games. Absurd and needs to be scrapped.

@NuMetalfan1996: The thing is, Championship games on weekends have half empty stadiums that are not even broadcast. So being broadcast on TV is not the reason why fans don’t go to the grounds.

@ftf121: strange paradox of the “passionate, die hard league 2 fan” who would not turn up if there was literally any other option….maybe they are not the big fans you claim? fact is there is a significant percentage of people who watch football who are unable or just dont like to go to any games, showing city v arsenal on a Saturday will make literally no difference to my willingness to spend 5 hours of my Saturday going to a stadium

@capio78: What a hypocrite. He’s made a fortune through football broadcasting.

@Clemo1991: Should do a year trial of showing the games at 3 pm if it empty stadiums then bring back in the 3pm black out as no one no how it will effect the attendance as its been in since the 60s

@holdin09: Simple way to solve this, move the prem games out of the 3pm slot and put them on tv and keep the lower leagues on at 3pm on Saturday. That way it removes the worry of people not going to the local game to watch a prem game on tv.

@clifty4208: The reason the stadiums are empty in the lower leagues is because ticket prices for the average working man is ridiculous. 🤷🏻

@GeetarSi: Jeff is talking complete rubbish. People won’t stop streaming illegally unless they can watch their team playing at 3pm as part of a subscription. As other’s have said the solution would be to move all Premier League fixtures either side of 3pm. No one is saying “sacrifice” lower league clubs. But why should fans be prevented from viewing games they WANT to watch when they have no interest in watching lower league football?

@Steven-wn3me: What an outdated opinion from Jeff and Ally. Just because Premier League games are on television at 3PM doesn’t mean Bristol City fans aren’t going to continue turning up to watch their own team. They’re not mutually exclusive. I pay nearly £100 a month to watch football and don’t get 50% of the games all season, needs to change asap! There’s 50,000 people on Villa’s season ticket waiting list. You think they’re gonna take themselves off just because the games are on tele? The answer is no. Live sports in person is more popular than ever.