Friday Night Rights: Premier League set to cash in with new deal

The Premier League will introduce Friday night games from the start of the 2016/17 season, with a record number of games set to be screened live on TV.

There will be 168 games broadcast live from 2016, with the Premier League set to earn even more than the £3bn secured during their last sale of rights packages. Five packages of 28 games will be sold in the new process, with a further two packages of 14 each. No single broadcaster will be allowed to purchase more than 126 of the matches available, while there will still be the traditional blackout of live football in the UK on Saturday afternoons. However, while the prospect of as many as 10 Friday night fixtures is sure to excite those cross channel, the news hasn't gone down as well over here, with many League of Ireland fans displaying their frustration at the news of further televised football potentially diluting their attendances.

BBC suggesting that next premier league deal will include Friday night games. Not content with chasing league here out of Sunday it seems... — emmet malone (@emmetmalone) December 12, 2014

Friday night Premier League games? We might have to move to Thursday nights at this stage #LOI — Ciaran (@BackPostHeader) December 12, 2014

Friday night Premier League games is a disaster for us here. pic.twitter.com/JGspl5rge8 — Ger O'Brien (@gerramia) December 12, 2014

Premier League games to be shown on Friday nights... The #LOI struggle just continues to get worse... — Moss Rullen (@RossMullen) December 12, 2014