Premier League Wins Anti-Piracy Court Order

[geoff clipp]

I guarantee you the so-called lesser clubs would be hundreds down on a gate if there was a big important Premier League match on at 3pm on a Saturday.

Who are we to do that? The smaller clubs need every penny they can get. As I said previously, the Premier League isn't the be-all and end-all of football in England.

The system works well at the moment, why should it be changed to appease fans that can't get off their arses and go to games? Yes, I know many cannot, but a great deal more, can, but don't.

It's not about appeasing fans who can't be arsed to go to games. City average 50k+ a game and we've got 2750 tickets for Brighton. The vast vast majority of our fans simply can't get tickets for half of our games and I can understand why many would like to have the choice to watch on tv legally. The vast vast majority of.them aren't going to pay £22 to go and watch Rochdale instead (on top of what they're already paying to follow the team they actually support). I'd suggest that anyone willing to pay £22 to watch a third division club isn't going to give up on them cos there's another team they don't even support on TV. If they are, then they clearly aren't even supporters of that club in the first place. If lower league teams were serious about pulling fans of premier league clubs in on their off week, then they might do well to have a think about their price points rather than the TV schedules.

I'm not saying the premier league is the be all and all of football. In fact I hate the premier league and i hate it's over hyped sense of self importance. You might think the system works well but it clearly doesn't for the tens of thousands of city fans who are unable to watch their team every other week or elderly fans who can't get to games full stop or poorer fans who have been priced out watching us.

 

[chesterbells]

I guarantee you the so-called lesser clubs would be hundreds down on a gate if there was a big important Premier League match on at 3pm on a Saturday.

Who are we to do that? The smaller clubs need every penny they can get. As I said previously, the Premier League isn't the be-all and end-all of football in England.

The system works well at the moment, why should it be changed to appease fans that can't get off their arses and go to games? Yes, I know many cannot, but a great deal more, can, but don't.

Re your last point, its a myth that there are loads of spare seats available for Premier League games, certainly for city, which is my only concern. Whether 'armchair' city fans choose to watch the 3pm game sat home or not wouldnt affect lower league attendances - their fans really ae fans, then they'd go and watch their team anyway.
Secondly, there wouldnt be any "big important" PL games at 3pm on a Sat - they are all moved to unique time slots elsewhere in the weekend anyway to maximise audiences, so 'casual PL' fans, who follow lower league teams would be less tempted anyway.

Its a separate discussion, but for me lower league football is over priced in England anyway, and I dont think it would be the end of the world if we didnt have so many full time clubs - they could still exist on a semi pro basis, and their fans could still continue to support them. The number of full time pro clubs we have now isnt sustainable, and was a reflection of an era when watching football on a Saturday afternoon was pretty much the only entertainment option on offer. I'd also offer fans some help and thought by re-introducing a 3rd tier split into North and South.

 

[chesterbells]

It's not about appeasing fans who can't be arsed to go to games. City average 50k+ a game and we've got 2750 tickets for Brighton. The vast vast majority of our fans simply can't get tickets for half of our games and I can understand why many would like to have the choice to watch on tv legally. The vast vast majority of.them aren't going to pay £22 to go and watch Rochdale instead (on top of what they're already paying to follow the team they actually support). I'd suggest that anyone willing to pay £22 to watch a third division club isn't going to give up on them cos there's another team they don't even support on TV. If they are, then they clearly aren't even supporters of that club in the first place. If lower league teams were serious about pulling fans of premier league clubs in on their off week, then they might do well to have a think about their price points rather than the TV schedules.

I'm not saying the premier league is the be all and all of football. In fact I hate the premier league and i hate it's over hyped sense of self importance. You might think the system works well but it clearly doesn't for the tens of thousands of city fans who are unable to watch their team every other week or elderly fans who can't get to games full stop or poorer fans who have been priced out watching us.

Agreed 100% Geoff

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

I would happily pay to stream our games but it won't happen till they get rid of the not showing 3pm games rule,it makes no sense anymore

It may not make any sense to a fan of a Premier League team, but it does to the directors and chairmen of lower league clubs kicking off at 3pm

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

The $50 is only to watch the games that are not on (Free)TV and are online. NBC state this will be approx. 3 games per club. So you're really paying $17 for those games. Not great if you only view it for City, and it'll be the games against low interest opposition.

NBC said the top teams who are on regularly would only be shown approx 3 times. The likes of Stoke, Palace and West Brom considerably more.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

They could easily get round this by just not have any PL games on at 3 on a Saturday. Make Sunday for the PL, with an early/late game on Saturday.

Be very hard to organise, with some teams playing on a Thursday night in far flung places and then others playing in the Champions League or League cup on a Tuesday.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Be very hard to organise, with some teams playing on a Thursday night in far flung places and then others playing in the Champions League or League cup on a Tuesday.

Spain manage it quite well. The Tuesday CL teams would play Friday/Saturday and it would fit the EL teams really well.

 

[SWP's back]

I guarantee you the so-called lesser clubs would be hundreds down on a gate if there was a big important Premier League match on at 3pm on a Saturday.

Who are we to do that? The smaller clubs need every penny they can get. As I said previously, the Premier League isn't the be-all and end-all of football in England.

The system works well at the moment, why should it be changed to appease fans that can't get off their arses and go to games? Yes, I know many cannot, but a great deal more, can, but don't.

That's all bollocks. Why shouldn't a City fan be able to pay to watch their games just because Barnsley are playing Oxford?

 

[M18CTID]

That's all bollocks. Why shouldn't a City fan be able to pay to watch their games just because Barnsley are playing Oxford?

Exactly. The 3PM blackout made a lot of sense in the past but for me it's a totally outdated concept these days. People's habits have changed so much down the years as football and live broadcasting of matches has evolved. I doubt there would be much impact on lower league attendances at all if the 3pm Saturday games were screened live, and if it was done in a way where fans could pay for a club-specific package I'd say there would be zero impact. The fact that you can legally watch a live Premier League match that kicks off at 3pm on a Saturday anywhere in the world except in the UK is as laughable as it gets. And who can forget the utterly ludicrous situation a few years back when El Clasico kicked off at 5pm UK time on a Saturday but because the blackout is from 2.45pm-5.15pm, Sky couldn't show the first 15 minutes so viewers had to make do with Balague watching it on his fucking laptop and giving everyone a running commentary?

 

[lancs blue]

Exactly. The 3PM blackout made a lot of sense in the past but for me it's a totally outdated concept these days. People's habits have changed so much down the years as football and live broadcasting of matches has evolved. I doubt there would be much impact on lower league attendances at all if the 3pm Saturday games were screened live, and if it was done in a way where fans could pay for a club-specific package I'd say there would be zero impact. The fact that you can legally watch a live Premier League match that kicks off at 3pm on a Saturday anywhere in the world except in the UK is as laughable as it gets. And who can forget the utterly ludicrous situation a few years back when El Clasico kicked off at 5pm UK time on a Saturday but because the blackout is from 2.45pm-5.15pm, Sky couldn't show the first 15 minutes so viewers had to make do with Balague watching it on his fucking laptop and giving everyone a running commentary?

Yes, the original idea of the 3pm blackout was when live league games were first being shown on terrestrial TV, which would have had an impact on lower division gates at that time. The situation is very different now and I also suspect that there is a much lower fraction of "neutrals" at lower league games now compared to the 80s when this rule first came into place. I can see no reason for not allowing individual PL clubs to stream 3pm games via a subscription channel on their own club website.