Why no Premier League games on Saturday? Special schedule for final matchweek explained

The 2025/26 Premier League season concludes this weekend.

Arsenal will walk out as champions for the first time in 22 years when they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

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Manchester City’s bid for glory ran out of steam at Bournemouth in midweek, but Pep Guardiola will enjoy what is sure to be an emotional farewell when his FA Cup and Carabao Cup winners take on Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

The battle for European places remains up in the air, while West Ham can still survive relegation at Tottenham’s expense if they beat Leeds and Spurs lose to Everton.

But why is all this happening at the same time on Sunday, May 24?

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Why are there no Premier League games on Saturday?

The reason for there being no Premier League games this Saturday is two-fold and comes down to broadcasting regulations and sporting integrity.

Football in the UK still operates with a 3 p.m. broadcast «blackout». This means that now games can be shown live on air during the default kick-off time for fixtures up and down England’s football pyramid.

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The rule is criticised as antiquated in some quarters, especially as fans abroad are able to watch 3 p.m. UK games live. But it remains in place as a means to safeguard live attendances.

This feeds into the second reason because the Premier League convention is for all fixtures on the final weekend to kick-off simultaneously. This is to ensure no team that needs a particular result to secure a certain objective or placement in the table is handed the advantage of rivals playing beforehand and simplifying the equation for them.

It rules out playing at 3 p.m, because rights holders would not be able to air any of the final weekend live because of the blackout.

As such, the entire slate takes place on Sunday, when there are now broadcasting restrictions.

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