Why did English football experience its first blank Saturday in more than two years today?

As we enter the strange period between Christmas and New Year, there's still plenty of festive football to enjoy.

There were no Premier League matches today (Saturday) but the action resumes on Sunday with six matches, followed by three on Monday and one on New Year's Day (Wednesday).

But unlike the last round of games, which were all available to viewers in Britain on Amazon Prime on Boxing Day and December 27, there will only be a handful of games on British television in the coming days.

This Crimbo-limbo period starts on Sunday at 2.30pm with Leicester City at home to struggling Manchester City, followed by West Ham against high-flying Liverpool at 5.15pm, with both matches on Sky Sports.

The unusual 5.15pm kick-off time at the London Stadium was chosen by Sky to avoid overlap with the 3pm kick-off (there is also a full EFL schedule on Sundays).

On Monday evening, Manchester United's match against Newcastle United can be seen on Sky Sports at 8pm, while Brentford v Arsenal is TNT's choice for this matchweek, at 5.30pm on New Year's Day.

Amazon Prime's six years of hosting Premier League football came to an end on Friday evening with Arsenal's 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at the Emirates Stadium.

Amazon Primes' final Premier League broadcast took place at Arsenal on Friday evening (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Since 2019, Amazon had shown two rounds of 10 matches each campaign, costing around 30 million ($37.7 million), including a midweek round in early December and then the festive matches immediately following Christmas, the popular Boxing Day slot. The deal with Amazon was initially for three years, but was extended for a further three years due to the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.

However, their 20-game package was no longer available when the new domestic TV deal, covering four seasons from the 2025-2026 campaign, was tendered. However, they will still show Champions League matches next season.

Under the current TV deal, in addition to the aforementioned 20 games on Amazon Prime, Sky shows 128 games, while TNT has 52, and the upcoming round of fixtures (which starts with Leicester v Manchester City) simply falls within that framework.

Amorim's Manchester United will take on Newcastle on Monday (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

What about the rest of the festive period?

There were no Premier League matches on Saturday.

According to Opta, on December 28, the first Saturday of a season without football since Christmas Eve 2022, there was effectively no football in England's top four.

There are also no Premier League matches on December 31, January 2 and 3.

The next Premier League gameweek runs from January 4 to 6, before the next round of league fixtures on January 14 to 16, with the League Cup semi-finals and FA Cup third round in between.

There will be no two-week winter break this Premier League season, which has been in place since the 2019-20 season, as there was a longer summer for players to rest and recover after Euro 2024 and the Copa America.

But given the busy schedule and players' ever-increasing workload, no Premier League club will play within 60 hours of a new match between December 21 and January 5. explained on their website. Each team will play four matches during the 16-day festive period.

Because Boxing Day fell on a Thursday this year, it meant there were no matches on Saturday, which explains why there are plenty of 3pm matches on Sundays.

Essentially, this Sunday functions like a Saturday in broadcast terms.

Festive football is an integral part of the Premier League season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Could things look different next year?

It will be, yes.

Under the new €6.7 billion domestic TV deal agreed last December, Sky Sports and TNT Sports will show up to 270 live matches per season.

Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 matches, while TNT will show a minimum of 52 matches. That contract runs for four years from next season.

The 3pm Saturday blackout, a rule first introduced in 1960 designed to protect attendances at lower league matches across the country, remains in place.

The biggest change, however, is that all matches outside that window will now be broadcast live, so matches moved from Saturday to Sunday for teams playing in European competition on Thursdays will be available to UK viewers from 2025 to 2026.

However, it's worth noting that in a repeat of this season's calendar, Sky would not be showing the Sunday matches at 3pm, as this is effectively a Saturday moved forward by 24 hours.

Sky Sports is entitled to kick-offs on Saturday at 5.30pm, on Sunday at 2pm and at 4.30pm, as well as evening matches on Monday and Friday, and three midweek rounds. They will also show all 10 matches on the last day of each season for the first time.

TNT shows all kick-offs at 12:30 on Saturdays and two midweek rounds of matches.

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What about in the US?

Unlike in Great Britain, all Premier League matches can be watched in the US during the holidays.

For the next set of matches, Leicester v Manchester City, Fulham v Bournemouth, Tottenham v Wolves, Crystal Palace v Southampton (all on Sunday), Aston Villa v Brighton and Ipswich v Chelsea (both on Monday) are on Peacock Premium.

Meanwhile, Everton vs Nottingham Forest, West Ham vs Liverpool, Manchester United vs Newcastle and Brentford vs Arsenal matches will be broadcast on USA Network and Fubo.

(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)