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Free Premier League action on Sky Sports on opening day

The Sky Sports action from the first day of the new Premier League football season will be free to watch, even if you don't own a dish.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm
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The first day of the new Premier League football season will be free to watch on Sky Sports -- even if you don't own a dish. Unbelievable Jeff!

If you're not a Sky customer, or if you are but don't fork out the extra moolah for the sports channels, you can still watch the opening day clashes unfold.

The usual Saturday lineup from Sky Sports 1 will be broadcast on free channels so anyone can watch them, starting with Soccer AM, followed by live lower-league action, Soccer Saturday, and post-game chat. Presenters include Helen Chamberlain, Jeff Stelling, Chris Kamara, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.

The programmes will replace the regular shows on Sky 2, if you have Sky, BT Vision or Virgin. Or if you watch on Freeview or YouView, tune into Pick TV to see the action. Programmes return to normal at 8pm.

The season kicks off on Saturday 17 August.

Sky is showing 116 live matches on Sky Sports, while BT is showing 38 games live. BT is launching its own BT Sport channels in the new season, offering the channels free to broadband customers. In response, Sky is offering a mirror-image deal: free broadband for anyone paying for Sky Sports channels.

Sky is also quietly planning to raise prices by up to 10 per cent in September, but is yet to confirm exact details.

What do you think of Sky's football coverage? Should the season be split between Sky and BT, or should you have to pay at all? Don your golden boots and tell me your thoughts in the comments, or make a mazy run to our high-scoring Facebook page.