Why Manchester United’s match with Watford is not being broadcast on TV in the UK

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Manchester United return to Premier League action when they host Watford this weekend.

But the match has not been selected for television coverage by Sky Sports or BT Sport.

Why isn’t Man Utd v Watford live on TV?

Sky and BT make their selections for televised matches ahead of time.

The televised matches for February 2022 were announced on December 14 2021 and the broadcasters decided to leave the clash with Watford as a rare 3pm kick off on a Saturday.

January’s late 1-0 win over West Ham was United’s last 3pm Saturday start.

But before that, the last time United played in the timeslot was actually the reverse fixture at Vicarage Road in November.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lost his job after that one, which ended in a 4-1 defeat, with Harry Maguire sent off.

Why can’t 3pm kick-offs be shown on TV?

English football adheres to a ‘blackout’ in terms of televised football between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

That means no games can be shown live on English television during those hours.

The aim is to protect the attendances of teams lower down the pyramid who kick off at 3pm.

We don’t know what the impact of removing the blackout would be, but it could reduce the ticket revenue of clubs who have had an incredibly tough time staying afloat during the pandemic.

Other countries in Europe don’t have a ‘blackout’ because their other divisions don’t kick off at the same time as the vast majority of their top flight matches.

England and Scotland are broadly unique in that regard, and one possible solution to this issue in future might be to remove Premier League matches from the 3pm slot, to suit television audiences and lower league clubs.