Is there even a good reason for this and seems weird sticking two title rivals in that time. Can imagine it will also be very difficult for Liverpool fans travelling up from London so early to get to the game on time
i think even this season Liverpool have the most 13.30 kick off games.
i just check for arsenal and i think we only have 1, i think we also have the least 13.30 kick-off this calender year.
Wind Klopp up so he can moan
We’re massive
Prime time
Cause Arab money is corrupting the sport? Lots of dirty deals are taking place behind the scenes and now refs are going to Saudi to ref too?
What a joke
Liverpool agreed for a bigger money if they will play the 1230 kickoff.
The only valid answer is: Cuz.
Same reason the wind blows harder for their matches
Fans can’t be trusted with the late kickoffs.
There’s the Middle East / Asian market but also there’s limiting the amount of time people can spend getting drunk before the game and leading to less trouble between fans!
Liverpool = big
so everyone will want to watch that match despite the horrible time
The broadcast rights in the UK are split across Sky, Amazon & TNT (previously known as BT Sport). TNT show one game a week - 12:30 on Saturdays.
My guess would be that TNT have decided they’re going to get more subscribers if they focus on one particular team rather than spread their broadcasts around. You’re probably going to get a lot more subscribers from one team if they’ve got a game on that station every month then you would across the board if everyone was on that channel twice over the course of the season.
Obviously the two most suitable candidates for this were always going to be Liverpool & United. They’re the two clubs with the most fans dotted around the country. The further away the fans are, the more likely they’re going to watch their team on TV regularly. This probably applies more to United than Liverpool, but as far as I’m aware, Sky get to pick the first game of the weekend, TNT get the second and then Sky pick from the rest, so it could be a case that Sky are using their first pick to choose United games for the same reason.
Posts here explain why THIS match is at 12:30, and what logic demands some matches are at 12:30, but no-one explains why Liverpool have 13 times been scheduled for a 12:30 Saturday after an international break, with the next being Spurs on 6 times.
Why isn’t this timing equally scheduled throughout the Premier League, or at least among the top 6 teams?
It’s nice to see a United fan pointing out that it’s not just our fans that travel from London
Because everyone else loves to hear Liverpool fans constantly whinging.