As well as introducing competition,

As well as introducing competition, albeit very small, in the market for live Premier League matches, the pressure from the competition authorities has also increased the number of televised games. This restriction of output, in the case the number of televised games, can be viewed as being against the public interest. Rather than the 60 games that were previously broadcast by BSkyB during the earlier seasons, the broadcaster now televises 138 Premier League games per season. This in part is likely to explain why the mean number of viewers per game has declined. Consumers now have greater choice over ahich games to watch and these need not be games involving the bigger teams within the League. Games involving smaller teams will be more attractive to some consumers. In any case, the total audience for Premier League games is now spread across a greater number of matches.