'Pure greed': Major Premier League broadcast decision leaves Jeff Stelling furious

talkSPORT's Jeff Stelling has passionately warned that the abolition of the 3pm blackout will be “the end” for lower league clubs.

a report of The times claims the blackout could be lifted once the Premier League and EFL's upcoming broadcast deals are concluded.

Current rules prohibit the broadcasting of live football during the Saturday afternoon slot, with the UK being the last European country to do so.

It has led to a recent rise in fans using illegal streams to watch first division matches, in addition to expensive television subscriptions.

However, the report says the blackout is “unlikely” to remain after the 2028/29 season.

stellar believes that eliminating the blackout will have a huge impact on english as a foreign language clubs.

Responding to the report, the animated talkSPORT presenter said: “Then the headline should read: 'Premier League greedy, it's all about us. You guys can go and make one, we don't care about you.'

“To begin with, there is no point in comparing it with the European leagues because football in England, the pyramid, is totally different. In this country, people care about the teams in the Championship, in League One, in League Two, in the National League.

“It seems like the Premier League doesn't care at all and, frankly, the fact that the Premier League or whoever says they're worried about illegal streaming, so what?

“Tell the TV companies to reduce the price of subscriptions and that will stop people from streaming things illegally. They have to start looking after the lower league teams.

“If Grimsby play Morecambe on Saturday afternoon and it's cold, wet and miserable, and Manchester United against Manchester City is shown live on television at 3pm, how many people will go to Grimsby against Morecambe?

“I can tell you how many: a big fat zero, and that will be the end of the lower level clubs.”

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Rangers and Scotland legend Ally McCoist sided with her colleague and said: “Okay, you're absolutely right mate.

“Spoken from the heart, spoken with passion by a Hartlepool supporter, it is impossible to argue with anything you have said, you are simply factually right.

“It's about the rich getting richer and the poor are going to disappear, they're going to disappear, it's very, very sad.

“Do you know what it is? The word Jeff is greed, it's actually scary, to tell you the truth, it really is.”

Stelling then responded to a fan who messaged the show to ask what difference it would make to show the games at 3 p.m.

He said: “Simon, it makes a difference, not for your team, you may miss a game, but it makes a big difference for other teams who are less fortunate.

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“In football we talk about a collective, not individual teams!”

The daily mail reports that the latest national broadcast deal, which runs from 2025 to 2029, was worth around £6.7bn.

Starting next season, all Premier League matches not scheduled for 3pm on Saturday will be broadcast on television.

More than 1,000 EFL matches will be televised on Sky Sports each year under a new deal which began in the current campaign.

The latest news about the blackout has come after the announcement that the Premier League will launch its own internal media operation.

It could pave the way for what talkSPORT's Simon Jordan has dubbed the 'Netflix of football', where matches will be shown on a streaming service.