“Protected” Saturday 3pm Games

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Neither Arsenal vs Everton or Liverpool vs Wolves are on tv tonight.
I know neither games were the selected tv fixtures when originally arranged but, really?!?!
The tv companies, PL themselves and whoever else seriously wonder why people stream games?!

I presumed there was an agreement somewhere that if PL games got moved to nights with FA Cup agreed televised dates, then Sky wouldn't show them? I'm sure Sky would have if they were allowed.

 

[wolfslair]

I presumed there was an agreement somewhere that if PL games got moved to nights with FA Cup agreed televised dates, then Sky wouldn't show them? I'm sure Sky would have if they were allowed.

It is the Saturday 3pm blackout rule…. If the game is moved the game is still blacked out.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

It is the Saturday 3pm blackout rule…. If the game is moved the game is still blacked out.

OK, so not in the original selection of games, so they can't add it? I feel like they have sometimes found a way round that, but maybe not. If it had been the only game on tonight and sold out then it would have been utterly ridiculous.

 

[wolfslair]

That is a very very good point.
Related to something i read this week about the demise of Stourbridge Rugby team and their plans to merge with another club, the Director of Rugby said that basically the local players have dried up. Even the local rugby playing school that has traditionally supported Stourbridge's teams all through the age groups nto the seniors, are now seeing their best players being snapped up by Premier Rugby academies, thus bypassing the local scene and the chance to develop and then move up if they're good enough. The club is dying and is nearly dead.

Local football must be the same, we all know someone who's kid has been signed by an "academy" when it used to be pretty rare to get on schoolboy terms...are all these young players going to develop a career playing competitive football against men with the chance to become decent standard players, or are they going to get prevented from playing any other football and then when rejected drift away altogether?
It weakens the argument that non-league football is vital, when the power of the professional clubs is getting bigger. Far more likely is that Div 2 and 3 teams will build their teams from Premier League club rejects, rather than scout them from the non-league scene.

Don’t listen to the rugby guy on the merger…..

Worcester shafted so many people on money and the “local” talent is fine, they have cut how much they paid players and others are paying more in the area to them. Stourbridge were at one point taking players from accross the midlands to push up the leagues. So their recruitment challenges, are a bit “exaggerated.” They put a lot of more local people off joining them because they recruited players from everywhere and paid them more than local players also.

I turned down a few offers to play there when I was still playing so know how they operated fairly well.

 

[marrs-guitar]

OK, so not in the original selection of games, so they can't add it? I feel like they have sometimes found a way round that, but maybe not. If it had been the only game on tonight and sold out then it would have been utterly ridiculous.

Sky could have shown it tonight, but the broadcasters are wary about using up a finite number of games, especially almost three months away from the season's end. They also have to comply with certain quotas of only showing each team a certain number of times. The last thing they want is to be locked out of showing a crucial game in the final few weeks because they have already maxed out their quota for the team.

I think the fact that 4 FA Cup games are being shown free-to-air tonight - including the huge TV draw of a Man Utd game - also limits the appeal for Sky.

If they took a PL game it would in all likelihood be Arsenal v Everton anyway, with it being title contenders against big club in the brown stuff. You can see from the low number of times that we are on TV that the broadcasters don't consider Wolves much of a draw (the game v Liverpool at Molineux was also untelevised).

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Sky could have shown it tonight, but the broadcasters are weary about using up a finite number of games, especially almost three months away from the season's end. They also have to comply with certain quotas of only showing each team a certain number of times. The last thing they want is to be locked out of showing a crucial game in the final few weeks because they have already maxed out their quota for the team.

I think the fact that 4 FA Cup games are being shown free-to-air tonight also limits the appeal for Sky. If they took a PL game it would in all likelihood be Arsenal v Everton anyway.

All good points. Better to show a top v bottom clash than a mid-table game!

 

[WasStefan]

Sky could have shown it tonight, but the broadcasters are wary about using up a finite number of games, especially almost three months away from the season's end. They also have to comply with certain quotas of only showing each team a certain number of times. The last thing they want is to be locked out of showing a crucial game in the final few weeks because they have already maxed out their quota for the team.

I think the fact that 4 FA Cup games are being shown free-to-air tonight - including the huge TV draw of a Man Utd game - also limits the appeal for Sky.

If they took a PL game it would in all likelihood be Arsenal v Everton anyway, with it being title contenders against big club in the brown stuff. You can see from the low number of times that we are on TV that the broadcasters don't consider Wolves much of a draw (the game v Liverpool at Molineux was also untelevised).

Agree 100%.

 

[Beastier]

Does feel like this 3pm blackout rule is a bit out of date.

In my experience, those of us that feel inclined to go to a live game wouldn't be swayed by it being on TV - it's a totally different experience. Case in point, I've not not gone to a Wolves home game because it's on TV.

Away games, however, even if you can get a ticket (that's a big if...) the logistics for a lot of us pretty much make it a no-go and so a reasonably priced TV option (eg £5 per game) would be an attractive alternative.

I do take the point regarding lower league attendances, however I'd suggest the number of people that would opt to watch a higher profile game on TV rather than watching their own team live would be in the minority - as a lot of posted above, if it's a higher profile game they really want to watch then there's ways they'll go about getting to see it anyway.

 

[glorybox]

Does feel like this 3pm blackout rule is a bit out of date.

In my experience, those of us that feel inclined to go to a live game wouldn't be swayed by it being on TV - it's a totally different experience. Case in point, I've not not gone to a Wolves home game because it's on TV.

Away games, however, even if you can get a ticket (that's a big if...) the logistics for a lot of us pretty much make it a no-go and so a reasonably priced TV option (eg £5 per game) would be an attractive alternative.

I do take the point regarding lower league attendances, however I'd suggest the number of people that would opt to watch a higher profile game on TV rather than watching their own team live would be in the minority - as a lot of posted above, if it's a higher profile game they really want to watch then there's ways they'll go about getting to see it anyway.

As suggested above i really do think that the EFL need to have a good rethink over when matches are scheduled. I'm sure an agreement could be reached with the EPL over this so that there are no clashes. A good question is would we all accept having no matches at 3pm on a Saturday if it meant we could watch them on TV/stream?

 

[WickedWolfie]

As suggested above i really do think that the EFL need to have a good rethink over when matches are scheduled. I'm sure an agreement could be reached with the EPL over this so that there are no clashes. A good question is would we all accept having no matches at 3pm on a Saturday if it meant we could watch them on TV/stream?

Re your question, as a travelling ST holder currently limited to public transport for medical reasons my answer is "no way". More matches at stupid times means more matches that l will struggle to get to. Your suggestion benefits the casual fan at the expense of the regular match attenders.

 

[glorybox]

Re your question, as a travelling ST holder currently limited to public transport for medical reasons my answer is "no way". More matches at stupid times means more matches that l will struggle to get to. Your suggestion benefits the casual fan at the expense of the regular match attenders.

Would noon or 6pm on a Saturday or Sunday afternoons be a "stupid" time?

 

[sillytuna]

Would noon or 6pm on a Saturday or Sunday afternoons be a "stupid" time?

Yes. Both would be horrendous for public transport and 6pm is just plain bad.

Sunday is especially awful for trains.

 

[TheConcourse]

Football is the only industry in the world that prevents customers from buying.

 

[Andywolf74]

Watching live football is as popular as ever in the Premier League, despite the advent of IPTV and the cheap cost of watching pretty much any premier league game.
I live on the South Coast and really miss watching Wolves when they have reasonably local away games, now the club have clamped down on reselling tickets (even at face value).
I’d certainly happily pay a reasonable subscription to watch all Wolves games live, rather than IPTV that’s prone to drop outs, freezing and always runs a few mins behind the live action. Most of all I wish all premier league clubs were forced to provide a minimum away allocation (like in the fa cup), so me and my daughter could go to some of the away games.

 

[McSteen]

Doesn’t that get you every single game though?

£636 to have all the prem games be watchable isn’t a sickening number when you think about how many games you have a season to chose from.

That is correct, every single PL game is included for roughly the same price as a season ticket.
Maybe not sickening if you see it that way, but still a lot more than you have to pay in other countries for the same deal.
I guess we get what we deserve, living in a country where people moan over rising prices but still cough up.
Anyway, this weekend I won't be able to watch the game on TV as I'll be sitting in the North Bank