How to Watch the Premier League in the UK 2026/27: TV & Streaming

Two broadcasters show live Premier League football in the UK: Sky Sports and TNT Sports. The BBC has the highlights. Amazon no longer has anything.

Between them Sky and TNT carry 267 of the 380 matches. The remaining 113 are not shown live by anyone in the UK, at any price, and that is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend money on a subscription.

Which channels show the Premier League in the UK?

Sky Sports and TNT Sports for live matches, BBC for highlights — and that is the complete list.

Sky’s share includes more than 140 weekend matches, the Friday and Monday evening slots, full coverage of three midweek rounds, and — for the first time under this deal — all ten matches on the final day of the season.

TNT’s 52 include exclusive rights to the Saturday 12:30 kick-off and full coverage of two midweek rounds.

The change most people have not caught up with is Amazon. Prime Video held a live package in previous cycles and does not hold one now. The Premier League’s own broadcaster listing for the United Kingdom reads simply “Sky Sports, TNT Sports (highlights - BBC Sport)”. Two subscriptions now cover every televised match; there is no third one to buy.

These deals run for four years from the 2025/26 season, so this is the arrangement for 2026/27 and beyond rather than something that shifts each summer.

How many Premier League matches can you actually watch?

267 of 380 — and the missing 113 are the reason a lot of subscriptions disappoint.

That last row is arithmetic on the League’s own numbers rather than a figure it publishes. Sky’s 215 is a stated minimum, so in practice the number shown can be higher and the number missing lower. But the shape is right: roughly one match in four is unavailable live in this country, and no amount of subscribing changes it.

If you are buying television specifically to follow one club, this is the number that matters. A club playing regularly at Saturday 3pm will have a meaningful part of its season invisible to you.

Why are Saturday 3pm matches not on TV in the UK?

Because of the closed period, which the Premier League describes as running from 14:45 to 17:15 on Saturdays. It is still in force.

The League’s own explanation is that matches are not televised in that window “primarily to protect match attendances and atmosphere at all levels of the game including lower league and non-league matches”. The rule dates from an era when the concern was that televised top-flight football would empty smaller grounds.

Two things about it are commonly got wrong.

It is not literally “3pm”. The window the League states is 14:45 to 17:15 — wider at both ends than the phrase suggests, which is why a 3pm kick-off cannot simply be joined late.

It has not been abolished. Reports have circulated saying permission to scrap it was granted. As of 21 August 2026 the Premier League’s own FAQ still carries the question and still answers it in the present tense, and still asks the public to report anyone broadcasting inside the window. If that changes, it will change on that page first.

There is one genuine consolation, and it is free.

How can you follow a blacked-out match legally?

On the radio. UK audio rights are held by BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT, and the restriction the League describes applies to television.

This is the part that most “how to watch” guides skip, and it is the only lawful way to follow a 3pm kick-off as it happens. The alternative that people actually reach for — an illegal stream — is precisely what the League’s reporting mechanism exists to catch.

Match of the Day remains the free route to see the goals. The BBC holds highlights rights to all 380 matches for the length of this deal, so every match that is blacked out live is still watchable in highlight form the same evening.

How can you tell which channel has a match?

From the kick-off time, before any listing is published. The packages are defined by slot, so the schedule tells you the broadcaster.

This is a derivation from the published package definitions rather than a listings grid, so treat it as a rule of thumb that resolves most fixtures rather than a guarantee for any single one. The midweek rounds in particular are split five ways across the season and the League moves individual matches after the fixture list is published.

That last point is worth internalising. The June fixture list is a starting position. Matches originally set for Saturday 3pm are routinely moved — to Friday or Monday evening, to Saturday lunchtime or evening, or to Sunday — precisely so they can be televised. A fixture that looks blacked out in June may well be shown.

When does the 2026/27 season start and finish?

Friday 21 August 2026 to Sunday 30 May 2027, with every match on the final day kicking off at the same time.

The season starts a week later than the previous one. The Premier League’s stated reason is player welfare in a congested calendar: the later start leaves 89 clear days after the end of last season and 33 days after the FIFA World Cup 26 final, and the season still finishes a week before the Champions League final on 5 June 2027.

One more scheduling commitment worth knowing: over Christmas and New Year, no two match rounds will fall within 60 hours of each other.

The opener is a good one. Arsenal, the champions, host Coventry City, who won the Championship — a club back in the top flight after 25 years away.

Who will win the Premier League in 2026/27?

Nobody can tell you, and at the moment this was written nobody had played a match.

That is not evasion. The Premier League’s own table for 2026/27 was empty when this article was checked, because the season had not started. There is no form, no points, no goal difference and no injury picture from this campaign to reason from. Any ranking of twenty clubs published before a ball is kicked is a preference, not an analysis.

What is settled and worth knowing:

We will publish standings-based analysis once there are standings. If you want a club-level view of the fixtures in the meantime, we have full season guides for Arsenal’s 2026/27 fixtures and Liverpool’s fixtures with UK and US TV details .

What this article does not tell you

• Anyone’s odds. If a page gives you a number for a club’s chance of winning the league, that is a price, and a price describes a betting market rather than a football season. There are none here.
• What a subscription costs. Prices change, promotional offers change faster, and a figure printed in August would be wrong by Christmas. Both broadcasters publish their own current pricing.
• How to watch a 3pm kick-off live. There is no lawful way to do it in the UK. That is the honest answer, and the radio is the honest alternative.
• Which club will finish where. See above — the season had not started.

Bottom line

Sky Sports and TNT Sports, and that is it for live football. Sky has the bulk of it including Fridays, Mondays, Sundays and the final day; TNT has 52 matches and owns Saturday lunchtime. The BBC has the highlights of everything.

Before you subscribe, do the subtraction: 267 of 380 matches are available live, and 113 are not. If your club plays often at Saturday 3pm, work out what you are actually buying — and put BBC Radio 5 Live or talkSPORT on for the rest.

Sources

Checked 21 August 2026. NOW and TNT Sports could not be reached from here and are named but not linked; no subscription prices are quoted.