First El Clasico date revealed
The first Clasico of the season between Barcelona and Real Madrid has been scheduled for 3:15pm UK time on December 3, meaning British residents won’t get to watch the game live on TV.
The match at Camp Nou has been timed so as many people as possible from the lucrative Far East and United States television markets can watch, but rules in the UK forbid the airing of live football matches between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday.
La Liga president Javier Tebas says the time slot was chosen despite the fact that viewers in the UK won’t be able to tune in due to an embargo designed to encourage attendance in Saturday afternoon fixtures.
The Clasico is therefore set to compete with the multi-million-spinning coverage of Premier League matches featuring Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and champions Leicester City, all of whom are due to kick off games at 3pm on the same day.
“The Barcelona and Real Madrid game will be played on Saturday at 4:15 p.m,” Tebas told Cadena Ser. “The game will not be aired in England because of the TV embargo that’s in place at that time.
“We had three windows we had considered: 1 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. We analysed those with our audiovisual team and playing at 6 p.m. is too late in Asia, while to play at 1 p.m. is too early for the American market.”
Real Madrid won last season’s fixture at Camp Nou 2-1, but were defeated 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Atletico Madrid are currently top of La Liga, with Real Madrid in second and Barcelona fourth.