Every professional football match should be televised or streamed

[clivewolves]

As it’s the international break and I’m bored I thought I would throw a pleasant and polite discussion into the mix.

When fans were banned from stadiums due to the pandemic every Premier League match was either televised or streamed online. Now fans are back and stadiums are full to capacity we have naturally reverted back to the situation before the pandemic with a select few games on the telly each week.

In my opinion, this is the wrong decision. Where feasible, every professional match in the English football pyramid, including 3 o’clock Saturday games, should be televised or legally streamed. At the very least every club should be given the opportunity to stream its games if broadcasters don’t want to televise them.

If I can watch the Wolves under-23s play on a YouTube stream on a Friday afternoon I should be able to watch a legal stream of Wolves playing Watford on the 11th September or any other match.

Give fans more choice. It is the logical next step. I think it is a matter of time before it happens.

Do you agree?

 

[Dawnwolf]

Yes, peeps will happily pay for a legal stream service so its a win win.

The counter argument used to be it would affect attendance.

 

[Mutchy]

I might as well get this in early... don't turn the thread into a discussion of unofficial ways to watch.

 

[Arky_R]

I’ve always thought clubs could make massive amounts of money with this. Yes it would effect attendances but I’d say it would only come into effect once a percentage of tickets are sold. Football is so much more than local fans now as much as some don’t care to admit. It’s really sad that this country can’t get games but some country over the other side of the word can get everything! We want the product the most.

 

[Wolf316]

Agreed. It’s ridiculous that in this day and age you can’t watch a football match at 3pm on a Saturday.

 

[LythamWolf]

I don’t agree with Saturday 3pm kick-offs being televised or streamed due to the impact on attendances at lower league and non-league matches.

 

[JadeWolf]

It would have a massive impact on attendances, and not such a good one. Plus if every game was on telly, as amazing as that sounds you would get bored very very quickly. I did last year.

 

[Wolf316]

It would have a massive impact on attendances, and not such a good one. Plus if every game was on telly, as amazing as that sounds you would get bored very very quickly. I did last year.

Would it and would you though? The big games are already moved for Tv anyway so the 3pm kick offs would mostly be ‘lesser’ games and it would be great if all our away games were televised as there’s zero chance of most of us getting tickets for those games.

 

[JadeWolf]

Would it and would you though? The big games are already moved for Tv anyway so the 3pm kick offs would mostly be ‘lesser’ games and it would be great if all our away games were televised as there’s zero chance of most of us getting tickets for those games.

Yes. Being able to watch all 20 teams across the weekend sounds awesome but after a month or two, Burnley v Watford at 8pm on a Saturday night isn’t as fun.

 

[Wolf316]

Yes. Being able to watch all 20 teams across the weekend sounds awesome but after a month or two, Burnley v Watford at 8pm on a Saturday night isn’t as fun.

Absolutely. To be honest pretty much every game I would want to watch is already televised but it would be nice to be able to watch all our away games.

 

[clivewolves]

Yes. Being able to watch all 20 teams across the weekend sounds awesome but after a month or two, Burnley v Watford at 8pm on a Saturday night isn’t as fun.

I'm not suggesting all the games kick-off at different times. The fixture schedule can remain the same. Next Saturday there are six matches in the Premier League kicking off at 3pm. All of those games could be televised or streamed at the same time.

 

[SuperGran]

I'm not suggesting all the games kick-off at different times. The fixture schedule can remain the same. Next Saturday there are six matches in the Premier League kicking off at 3pm. All of those games could be televised or streamed at the same time.

Be great for the premier league but would kill the lower leagues

 

[clivewolves]

I don’t agree with Saturday 3pm kick-offs being televised or streamed due to the impact on attendances at lower league and non-league matches.

With respect, I think that is a poor argument. If fans want to watch a different match they should be given that choice. If fans want to watch a live match in the lower league they also have that choice. The lower league clubs would have to adapt to attract fans.

 

[Jawwfc]

There would be a market for a Premier League netflix style service, it would be available at a cheaper price than sky and also generate more income for clubs.

I can understand for lower league teams there would be an issues for gate attendances.

 

[SuperGran]

A few years ago I used to go and watch Stevenage they were non league then, when wolves were away or not playing.
the home crowd is pretty much made up of spurs/arsenal/Chelsea fans paying to watch Stevenage because they couldn’t watch their team.
imagine if all games were televised the majority of those fans would be at home watching their team on TV rather than giving a non league side a much needed cash boost.

 

[Guzeppi]

I agree, Mutchy not withstanding.

 

[WickedWolfie]

A few years ago I used to go and watch Stevenage they were non league then, when wolves were away or not playing.
the home crowd is pretty much made up of spurs/arsenal/Chelsea fans paying to watch Stevenage because they couldn’t watch their team.
imagine if all games were televised the majority of those fans would be at home watching their team on TV rather than giving a non league side a much needed cash boost.

Were you living elsewhere then? Wolvo to Stevenage is a bloody fair trek....

 

[SuperGran]

Were you living elsewhere then? Wolvo to Stevenage is a bloody fair trek....

Was there most weekends other half was working there

 

[clivewolves]

A few years ago I used to go and watch Stevenage they were non league then, when wolves were away or not playing.
the home crowd is pretty much made up of spurs/arsenal/Chelsea fans paying to watch Stevenage because they couldn’t watch their team.
imagine if all games were televised the majority of those fans would be at home watching their team on TV rather than giving a non league side a much needed cash boost.

That's fair to a point and I understand the potential ramifications of what I'm suggesting, although I do think lower league and non-league football will survive.

However, that argument is basically to not give fans what they actually want. If Chelsea, Spurs, and Arsenal fans want to watch their team instead they should be given the choice to do so and Stevenage will have to adapt.

 

[Bilbrook Wolf]

All premier league games should be on TV. You can already access every game so it would barely effect attendances. Lower league clubs should be atleast be given the option that if they want to stream their games they can, this may actually increase revenue as many people may pay to stream the game but wouldn’t of actually of gone to the match. Virtually every club now has the capability to stream their games due to the pandemic.
The 3pm black out is massively outdated and doesn’t reflect the society we live in.

 

[clivewolves]

Other than every match being available during the lock-down, there were two other instances that really convinced me of this position.

One was a few months ago when the YouTube algorithm for some reason suggested a live Sri Lankan football match for me to watch. I ended watching about 10/15 minutes before giving myself a slap and realising my time was better spent doing something else.

The other was the other night when I was flicking through the sports channels and American little league baseball was on on of the ESPN channels. I couldn't believe that kids playing baseball was available to watch and I wondered how many other people were watching it in the UK.

If I can watch those two events I don't see why by far the most popular sport in the UK shouldn't be made available as much as possible. The demand is there but the supply isn't.

 

[inaglasshouse]

I prefer watching streams in foriegn languages. The more obscure the better. Every game should be broadcast in a different one each week so we can listen out for 'Kilman used to play futsal' and 'Wolves are better in the second half' in a diverse range of languages.

 

[VictorPyrrhic]

There's an obvious answer to stop the lower league attendances being impacted. Only supporters of the teams involved can access the match and you can choose one team per season when you purchase a 'streaming season ticket'.

Now to avoid the attendance at a given streamed game from suffering, implement a price and loyalty model. If you attend x home game you get access to y away game via the streaming service. If x % of fans purchase a ticket for the match you get y discount off the next home match.

It needs to be implemeneted so everyone is self-motivated not crowd motivated so the only problem i see with the 3 solutions above is the last one [x% discount on next game based on attendance [mass behaviour]].

 

[wwbug]

As it’s the international break and I’m bored I thought I would throw a pleasant and polite discussion into the mix.

When fans were banned from stadiums due to the pandemic every Premier League match was either televised or streamed online. Now fans are back and stadiums are full to capacity we have naturally reverted back to the situation before the pandemic with a select few games on the telly each week.

In my opinion, this is the wrong decision. Where feasible, every professional match in the English football pyramid, including 3 o’clock Saturday games, should be televised or legally streamed. At the very least every club should be given the opportunity to stream its games if broadcasters don’t want to televise them.

If I can watch the Wolves under-23s play on a YouTube stream on a Friday afternoon I should be able to watch a legal stream of Wolves playing Watford on the 11th September or any other match.

Give fans more choice. It is the logical next step. I think it is a matter of time before it happens.

Do you agree?

On a pay as you watch basis, and probably around £10 per match. And even reduced ticket prices. Say £25.00
Then revenue could be constant. Seems silly to charge up to £50 to 30,000 when you may get an extra 100 ,000 watching .

 

[AntonusKlesk]

Those that benefit from the huge cost of UK licensing are very resistant to change, any change is a risk that could impact profit. If it ain't broke don't fix it is their view.

From the punter's perspective though, it's archaic and completely at odds with the way all other aspects of entertainment have gone. Hopefully the PL will see sense and provide a direct service in the not too distant future.

I expect when that happens though, they'll completely screw it up by over charging on a per match basis rather than charging a fair flat fee that generates more money via huge subscriber numbers.....because again, that's what has been shown to work with subscription services. Not that common sense will be used in the first iteration designed to work out what they can get away with.

 

[jrpb-3]

On balance I think I'm in favour of it.

I think we all know that watching on TV is no substitute for actually being there. Yes there will be some affect on attendances as for some the cost and convenience of watching on TV will mean for some matches they will take that option rather than watch live. For Wolves (and many others) the demand for live tickets is higher than capacity most of those fans will still want to go to some games live so if demand falls to around capacity levels then it's win win. Fans get to choice of how they watch match day tickets would be more easily available and clubs make money from ticket sales and tv money.

As to the argument about how if would affect lower leagues. Well there is already some flow down of tv money to those leagues (maybe not enough) so more matches on tv would mean more money. The 3pm timeslot is a little more difficult. You have to ask why people go and watch the lower leagues, for most because it is their club and that they want to watch live games, televised games are available to watch too at other times, so question is if top level matches were televised at 3pm or tickets to those more easily available are fans of lower league matches going to watch those or buy those tickets in preference ? I think the majority who go and watch lower league would continue to do so, they could still watch the same other matches on TV at other times as they do now. Maybe the question is would some become fans of other clubs and attend their matches in preference if ticket prices and ticket availability were better.


maybe the solution would be for matches to be streamed like many if EFL are now but that you need to have a paid membership for that club to access them and maybe put some limit on the number of memberships, would then mean that matches would be available for fans of the clubs, but less likely to get fans of other clubs buying memberships and watching in preference to their own clubs.

matches currently televised would continue to be televised (maybe some of those then would not be available to stream (otherwise TV would pay less for the TV rights if not exclusive)

 

[wwbug]

If Fosun are ruthless , and they should be, then they will restructure the recruitment department .
If they do not then they are perfectly happy with the last five windows.
Bear that in.mind over the coming months.
We ‘lost’ Nuno and his team, Thelwell and Dalrymple.
If the last two weeks was the fiasco many thought and If they keep this lot you know the answer, these recruitment guys are doing their job well by Fosun .

 

[Wolfion]

I think a charged streaming service would be a good idea.

It would not effect the attendances at the ground as long as clubs look at their ticket prices. In my opinion people will always prefer to watch a game at the ground for the atmosphere and the only thing stopping them other than individual circumstances would be a lack of supply of tickets or too high a price.
The price issue would be less as the match day ticket revenue would be supplemented with the streaming revenue.
I doubt people would get bored as it is unlikely you would watch any old matches other than the ones suitably chosen for TV or your own team.

With regards to the lower league matches, they would adapt. If I remember correctly there were a number of clubs who changed their Saturday 3pm kick off to a Friday night so not to loose supporters to the bigger clubs in the area. Tranmere maybe?
So they could adapt by moving kick off times and by streaming themselves. It is amazing how much football people watch. Lads in my office watch Sunday league matches on you tube.

 

[TheConcourse]

As it’s the international break and I’m bored I thought I would throw a pleasant and polite discussion into the mix.

When fans were banned from stadiums due to the pandemic every Premier League match was either televised or streamed online. Now fans are back and stadiums are full to capacity we have naturally reverted back to the situation before the pandemic with a select few games on the telly each week.

In my opinion, this is the wrong decision. Where feasible, every professional match in the English football pyramid, including 3 o’clock Saturday games, should be televised or legally streamed. At the very least every club should be given the opportunity to stream its games if broadcasters don’t want to televise them.

If I can watch the Wolves under-23s play on a YouTube stream on a Friday afternoon I should be able to watch a legal stream of Wolves playing Watford on the 11th September or any other match.

Give fans more choice. It is the logical next step. I think it is a matter of time before it happens.

Do you agree?

Ultimately the PL - or whoever else owns the rights - are trying to battle against technology. That never ends well.

It’s crazy that in 2021 I can’t stream every Wolves home and away game with a decent quality stream for £200 a season.

 

[Timberwolf]

Yes, peeps will happily pay for a legal stream service so its a win win.

The counter argument used to be it would affect attendance.

I’d pay for the away matches I can’t attend, but no more than a fiver. You know for sure, the greedy ****s in charge will want £14.99 or more.

 

[jrpb-3]

I guess part of the question is going to come down to numbers and finances

realistically if matches were available how big is the market for a particular match how may would watch it. and how many of those would be people who would otherwise have gone to the game and home many would be additional viewers. I guess this would be mostly for domestic UK market as the majority of matches including 3pm kickoffs are already available abroad (for prem anyway)

Also who is going to show them, will clubs either directly or via some new streaming provider stream them direct or as like last season would they be televised by sky bt amazon etc. If so would they still be split between them and maybe others dazn bein etc. meaning fans still have to subscribe to multiple packages to watch what they want, and would they be offered on a match by match basis, a buy all or a set of matches for a particular club only, or on a monthly subscription for all matches like with sky. depending on setup is going to affect the deals and package prices of existing TV deals.

bottom line probably comes down to do the clubs and or tv companies feel they can make more money than they do at present if they could offer all matches.

 

[jrpb-3]

out of interest if all matches were available how many would you watch online that you might otherwise have go to see live
of additional matches available would you just watch wolves ones or would you watch matches from other clubs as well
how much would you be willing to pay

 

[thetwistedsock]

I’d pay for the away matches I can’t attend, but no more than a fiver. You know for sure, the greedy ****s in charge will want £14.99 or more.

Already tested the water.

 

[TheConcourse]

I’d pay £200 a season to guarantee a quality stream of home and away games - that’s on top of PL games.. would take Sky sub to around £700-£800 for football only? Would be happy to pay that.

Would be the same as going to 5-6 games a season.

 

[Finch3d]

If there was a Netflix style service Id buy it no question. Would prob put SS out of business or heavily reduced in size.

 

[SuperGran]

Amazon could do it they’d probably put their subscription up though

 

[Brockmoorwolf]

It would have a massive impact on attendances, and not such a good one. Plus if every game was on telly, as amazing as that sounds you would get bored very very quickly. I did last year.

I don't agree. My 2 youngest 4 and 7 watch about the first 10 mins then get bored when on the tv. But live they dont take their eyes off the pitch at all.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Would make clubs more money but it would lower attendances not sure that’s true myself

 

[mcwolf]

I might as well get this in early... don't turn the thread into a discussion of unofficial ways to watch.

damn !

 

[Urko]

If there was a Netflix style service Id buy it no question. Would prob put SS out of business or heavily reduced in size.

Putting SS out of business is definitely a big plus.