Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United won't appear on live UK TV – the 3pm blackout no longer makes sense

By Robert Butler, Director of the Centre for Sports Economics and Law, University College Cork

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United will be watched live on television by football fans around the world – but not if they live in the UK.

The reason for this is the decades-old “3pm blackout”, a policy designed to protect match attendance and revenue in the era of live television. But in the world of streaming – and indeed, where live attendance is a COVID risk – is the blackout still needed?

In the early 1960s, the chairman of Burnley Football Club, Bob Lord, successfully lobbied other executives in the Football League to prevent…

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