PL winter break

[Bill 1,788]

and the FA Cup 5th round played midweek (eve kick off)

[Bill 1,788]

Looks like it has come to pass

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44414487

[Bill 1,788]

and it appears that they will not be extra time for League Cup games

straight to penalties at 90 minutes

and the ABBA penalty system has met it''s Waterloo, it''s no more

[glory.win or die. 273]

Norwich always seemed to take a winter break over Christmas anyway with our festive record.way ahead of the time.

[alex_ncfc 686]

The way this winter break has always been talked about, you''d expect teams to be having something like a month off. Is a break this short going to realistically make any difference to anything? Wonder which team will be first to abuse it and go to the US for an "exhibition game"

[Surfer 1,547]

Stupid idea, it''s not really a break if half the teams get one week off and the other half get the other. The only reason this should have been considered is to avoid bad weather and although Feb is the most likely month for that, we have a full fixture list for the EFL teams and the FA cup in midweek in the middle of this "break". So let''s not presume there is anything "Winter" or "break" about this, it''s an excuse to stretch the PL season out an extra week... they also pull this BS in the US, pairs of NFL teams get a week off on a rotating basis through the season, net effect is a one week longer season and hence more TV revenue.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

TV revenue is based on number of games, not the length of the season.

While it is a staggered break it does at least allow every Premier League club to have 2 weeks off just after the busiest part of the season and may mean that so many teams don’t feel the need to rest players in the FA Cup game which happens currently.

It is a good move and should help prevent injuries to players.

Would be good if EFL teams could do the same, but with so many extra games it is never going to happen.

[Bill 1,788]

I cannot see it affecting the ''resting of players for the FA Cup'' - that will continue as long as a place or two higher in the table earns more in money than winning the FA Cup.

Reducing the time span games are played in (unless there is an extension) would perhaps be more likely to cause injury.

Though I suspect a fair amount of injuries are dow nto the fast pace the game is played. As to Leagues games being subject to this nonsense that would be absurd. Many already get a blank weekend as it is if they go out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round, or their opponents are in the 3rd round etc.

Many also do not have undersoil heating and so will be prone to missing games if the weather is bad. Having to have another enforced break would be ridiculous, more so as many of these clubs rely upon regular games for their cash flow.  Having to catch up on games could mean lower attendances simply because of having a midweek and Saturday game a few days apart.

[Surfer 1,547]

" TV revenue is based on number of games, not the length of the season".

No, TV revenue is based on the number of adverts that are aired, so it''s a function of the number of games shown across all of the TV channels, not the number of games played. As revenues go up so will fees charged by the PL to generate those revenues.