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Sky Sports come to surprise decision on Manchester United v Newcastle United match

3 years ago
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The 5 July 2021 is a date that both BT Sport and Sky Sports will wish they could rewind to.

The two broadcasters somehow coming to the decision that of the four Premier League matches chosen for live TV broadcast on the weekend of Saturday 11 September, none on them would be Manchester United v Newcastle United match.

Both at Old Trafford and St James Park, this is a game that is almost never left untouched by the broadcasters.

Then to compound that error of judgement, in the eyes of many, the 31 August 2021 took it onto a whole new level.

The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo making the Manchester United v Newcastle United match the hottest ticket in town, with tickets reselling for over £2,500.

The transfer was only finally officially announced on deadline day, no doubt for maximum impact / publicity but it had been clear for days before that, that this deal was going to happen.

The automatic reaction of all football fans was that the likes of Sky Sports would move heaven and earth to get the game moved for live TV. Supporters so resigned these days to being messed around at short notice, nobody would have been surprised – least of all Newcastle fans, if with less than two week until its scheduled date, the Old Trafford match had been moved for the benefit of the TV audience.

However, the Manchester Evening News have revealed the very surprising news that neither Sky Sports or BT Sport made any move / request to have the Manchester United v Newcastle United match moved and added to their live schedule.

Indeed, the only broadcaster to make a significant change to accommodate Manchester United v Newcastle United is BBC Sport. BBC Radio 5 Live dropping Leicester v Man City as their Saturday 3pm live commentary game, in favour of the one at Old Trafford.

Sky Sports will show the match in full at 8.30pm as their ‘Game Of The Day’ but ahead of that, Sky Sports have announced that: ‘You won’t need to wait long to see the match highlights – we’ll bring them to you for free from 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app, as well as on our Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.’

As a Newcastle fan, nothing makes me smile / laugh much these days with the Mike Ashley / Steve Bruce circus in full flow…but the thought of just how gutted the chiefs at Sky Sports and BT Sport will be due to this decision, has made me chuckle. As well of course as the Man Utd fans from Lands End to John o’Groats moaning about how badly done to they are…

When you see the four matches that Sky Sports and BT Sport selected ahead of Manchester United v Newcastle United, it makes it even more hilarious.

BT Sport showing Crystal Palace v Tottenham on Saturday 11 September at 12.30pm, whilst everybody will be desperate to watch Everton v Burnley on Sky Sports at 8pm on Monday 13 September.

Whilst completing the live TV in the UK that weekend is Chelsea v Villa at 5.30pm on Saturday (11 Sept) and Leeds v Liverpool at 4.30pm on the Sunday (12 Sept), both those matches on Sky Sports.

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