Premier League broadcasts will feature interviews with substituted players, as well as more on-pitch and dressing room camera access from next season.
In order to keep pace with their US counterparts, British broadcasters sought increased access from the Premier League, with three new innovations to come in for the 2025-26 season and beyond.
As well as interviewing substituted players, in a bid to allow viewers to gain a real-time offering of the player’s views and analysis of the game, broadcasters are also set to be granted limited access to dressing rooms and be allowed to enter the pitch in order to capture close-up footage of goal celebrations.
It is believed any manager team-talks will be off limits for broadcasters, however.
The process of interviewing a substituted player was trialled by Sky Sports during the 2024-25 season, as Bournemouth’s Marcus Tavernier spoke to the British broadcaster after he was substituted on 76 minutes during his side’s 3-1 victory over Southampton in October.
The Premier League announced in December 2023 the new TV rights deal in the UK worth a record £6.7billion, which will see Sky Sports broadcast 215 top-flight matches per season, commencing from 2025-26, while TNT Sports remain with exclusive coverage of 52 matches per season.
There has been a gradual increase in broadcasters’ access to players and coaches in recent years.
In the summer of 2022, a rule was added to Section K of the Premier League’s handbook saying broadcasters “may request” an interview with a team’s manager, or senior member of the coaching staff at the end of half-time.
The rule came with the caveat: “The manager may elect to provide the interview requested or decline to do so, at his/her absolute discretion.”
Patrick Vieira, then head coach of Crystal Palace, took part in a brief half-time interview with Sky Sports in August 2022.
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