Press release -
BT Sport to screen Pep Guardiola's opening game to kick start the new Premier League season
BT Sport announce Saturday 5.30pm Premier League games
Football fans will get the chance to see several Premier League title contenders live on BT Sport in the opening two months of the 2016/17 season. Live matches include Pep Guardiola’s first game in the competition as well as Arsenal taking on Chelsea and holders Leicester facing Arsenal and then Liverpool.
BT Sport’s season begins with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City taking on Sunderland at the Etihad on Saturday 13 August at 5.30pm. The new manager of the blue side of Manchester, who has had highly successful spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, will be aiming for the perfect start and the media will be watching his every move.
This season BT Sport will broadcast the majority of their games on Saturday evenings at 5.30pm. The first two months will see teams who finished in the top four battle it out as well as games involving Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
BT Sport’s second Premier League game of the season will see title holders Leicester City host Arsene Wenger’s runners-up Arsenal at 5.30pm on Saturday 20 August. This will be Leicester’s first home game of the season following their incredible achievement last year.
Steve Bruce and his Hull City side will then play host to Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United on Saturday 27 August as they return to the Premier League following a year’s absence.
Following the September international break, BT Sport will show last season’s UEFA Europa League runners-up Liverpool take on Leicester City at Anfield on Saturday 10 September.
The following weekend will see two games exclusively live on BT Sport. Ronald Koeman’s Everton will take on Middlesbrough on Saturday 17 September, with the away side competing in the Premier League for the first time since 2008/09. The following day at 12pm Walter Mazzarri’s Watford will take on Manchester United at Vicarage Road as the former hope to build on last year’s 14th place.
September’s Premier League coverage on BT Sport will close with a mouthwatering tie between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates, with the latter now managed by Antonio Conte. The match will kick off at 5.30pm on Saturday 24 September.
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “Football fans can look forward to an exciting start to the Premier League season on BT Sport. We will now be broadcasting matches at 5.30pm on Saturday evenings and these opening games include the first Premier League match for Pep Guardiola, as well as chances to see how Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton perform under their new managers Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Ronald Koeman respectively.
“Three of the four English teams competing in this season’s UEFA Champions League will be shown on BT Sport in the opening weeks of the season and they will also be seen exclusively live on BT Sport once their European campaigns begin.”
Once again this season BT Sport will be showing 351 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League games exclusively live across its channels.
BT Sport exclusively live games in August and September
| Date | KO | Day | Home | Away |
| 13-Aug-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Manchester City | Sunderland |
| 20 Aug-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Leicester City | Arsenal |
| 27-Aug-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Hull City | Manchester United |
| 10-Sep-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Liverpool | Leicester City |
| 17-Sep-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Everton | Middlesbrough |
| 18-Sep-16 | 12.00pm | Sun | Watford | Manchester United |
| 24-Sep-16 | 5.30pm | Sat | Arsenal | Chelsea |
-Ends-
Topics
- Sport
Categories
- tv
- consumer
- sport
About BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group’s reported revenue was £19,042m with reported profit before taxation of £3,029m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
BT News