Thank you. So it's only PL and just 3 countries where this rule is applicable. No other leagues or even different sports have rule similar to this.
The 3pm U.K. Blackout
- Thread starter esmufc07
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Thank you. So it's only PL and just 3 countries where this rule is applicable. No other leagues or even different sports have rule similar to this.
None that I'm aware of the Black-out no doubt in decades past had a positive effect on ensuring attendances to lower league games stayed high and it might still do to some degree. I don't see that lasting for much longer though, I think the PL/FA/FL should be actively thinking up new ways to protect lower leagues teams futures. But seeing as they're still televising games based on a 30+ year old business model I doubt they are.
Researchers analysed the impact of televised midweek Champions League ties involving British sides on lower league games taking place at the same time. It showed a reduction of around 20% in matchday attendance/revenues on lower league gates as a direct result of what football was on TV. I would imagine those figures would be higher still for a Saturday 3pm game.
I think it will clearly affect attendances for the casual fan. if I lived close to a lower league ground I may go there just to watch a game on a Saturday afternoon, but if Man Utd or any other tasty game was on TV I might just give it a miss and watch instead. Obviously fans of the clubs will always choose to go and watch their team rather than another team on TV but there must be enough "floating voters" to make a difference. Im not sure whether there is enough to justify a blanket blackout though. Not in 2021 surely.
In the NHL, if you subscribe to their streaming service, a game is blacked out if it is on TV in your area (as a lot of regular season games are on regional networks). But this is to support the existing TV deals with these broadcasters, rather than to protect the sport below the highest level. That's the closest blackout rule in another sport than I am aware of. There may be more in other countries.
But within UEFA, only 3 countries apply the blackout rule. One thing that does go in favour of it, is that Scottish Football appears to have the best attendance in relation to % of the population. Would that change if there was no blackout? Scottish football isn't well televised anyway, but a lot of Scots do have an eye on English football too, so a removal of blackouts in England could impact north of the border. Though, that's not really the English FA's problem. It's also reasonably cheap to attend games in Scotland, which I'm sure helps. I used to go watch Aberdeen now and again when I lived up there, and it was around what you'd pay to watch English League One. Second and Third Division games were about £8 - £10 on the gate. You'd have to go pretty far down the English system to get in to a game for a tenner.
Yeah like you said it's a midweek game, so that might also have some impact on the attendance. By any chance do you have the numbers for drop in home attendance? That could be more accurate than overall attendance.
It's very surprising that how much money English people pay to watch their own league. I mean you pay lot for streaming service/Sky, match day pricing and cost associated with it is too high. For the money you pay to watch on tv, you won't even get all games.
For 10 pounds a year, we get all PL games on streaming app. Previously it was 10 pounds a year for PL + Bundesliga.
I think the research is already controlled for the impact of all the variables that determine attendances - day of the week, quality of the opposition, distance travelled, what's at stake, etc. And after all of that they've identified a 16-21% average impact on each home gate from the clash with the CL TV ties.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...emand_The_Case_of_the_English_Football_League
Yes, there should be a real revolt from supporters around this. For some reason the PL can't be monopolised and has to be spread across more than 1 broadcaster, which means more money for fans to fork out, for an incomplete product. The pricing is not good, and particularly so if you don't support a top 6 club that is on TV almost every week. For everyone else it is terrible value. Even when Sky kept losing the rights to the CL and La Liga, it wasn't reflected in the price. There needs to be reform on how televised football is packaged, and also supporting and protecting the football league system moving forward. The blackout has piracy and demand to compete with, which it didn't back when it was implemented. The game needs to adapt.
Ah, trickle down economics. I'm sure that's exactly how it would happen, given the enormous influence non-league clubs have over Premier League broadcasting rights negotiations.
Also at what point are you just ripping the soul clean out of those lower/non league games? Take all the fans away but they scrape along on handouts from the PL TV matches which stole their fans in the first place. What's the point?
I've already acknowledged since that it has flaws. I was just asking the question, hence the 'in theory' part.
If we get rid of the 3pm kick-off rule, what excuse will City then have for the empty seats?
Thank you, so looks like it has big impact on lower league attendance.
Agree with that. There should be some sort of rule to control the prices for match days too. Also it's shocking how much UK people end up paying over a season to watch football on tv and stadiums. So you pay at least 100 pounds a month (assuming here btw) to subscribe sky, BT and other channels but still can't watch all the games of your favorite club?
Despite the blackout, we very rarely kick off on Saturday at 3pm any more.
This was just an unfortunate coincidence.
This was just an unfortunate coincidence.
it just encourages illegal streaming. At the very least offer it as a PPV for a fiver or so.
It's a bit daft.
You can't compare going to a match vs watching on TV. If your able to go to the game in person itll always be a better experience.
You can't compare going to a match vs watching on TV. If your able to go to the game in person itll always be a better experience.
Sure if its a choice between watching your team live or on TV. However say you are a United fan and you live in Inverness. Maybe you go along to watch Caley every couple of weeks just as they are the team local to you, you enjoy it but they aren't your team. If Man Utd are on TV when Caley are playing maybe in that situation you put TV ahead of the live experience and that hits the crowd at Caley.
Surely this is the acceptable compromise.
Even something like £10/month or whatever price it needs to be so it encourages enough people to still go to lower league games but it’s not too expensive and they take the option away as nobody goes for it.
Or just sell the rights to the 3pm kickoffs separately to the broadcasters and the money generated gets geared towards the lower leagues as priority.
This would be more than fair compromise, one that most teams down there would no doubt snap your hand off for.
Aye, that’ll work too.
Obviously want the 3pm ban lifted but it has to be with regard to the rest of the football league and below so whatever the cost is to help them out, do it. stop the bloody ban.
Absolutely. Nobody wants to harm the lower leagues and it doesn’t need to.
I'd at least like to trial 3pm kickoffs but it's getting a little over the top surrounding Ronaldo's first game. United and Ronaldo will be on the usual legal channels many times this season. I wouldn't mind if there were millions watching in England, this "everyone" doesn't stack up when looking at viewing figures on Sky/BT nor does it when you add in the potential amount of people in the pubs and bars across the country. Most of the football fans will be watching MOTD or checking out clips afterwards.
Many pubs will be full of people watching 3pm games they're showing illegally too. Fundamentally I think the league needs to accept that this isn't 30 years ago. Maybe some still do but I'd wager the vast majority don't 'that episode of the Likely Lads' it with MOTD. Casual fans maybe but if your team is playing 3pm on Saturday the majority are going to have seen on some dodgy stream somewhere. A chunk, though certainly a minority, pay for VPNs and all the rest of it. The league could take that money and donate a portion of it to these non league sides and it'd be of far greater help than this pretence that there's anyone who genuinely thinks "United aren't on telly today, let's go down and watch Curzon Ashton"
Because it doesn't happen.There's money there on the table willing to be used, willing to be handed over to watch the 3pm games, some of which if they wanted to could be given to the lower leagues. But it's left on the table and given to foreign broadcasters and VPN providers and that apparently is for the benefit of football?
I don't buy it.
Because it doesn't happen.There's money there on the table willing to be used, willing to be handed over to watch the 3pm games, some of which if they wanted to could be given to the lower leagues. But it's left on the table and given to foreign broadcasters and VPN providers and that apparently is for the benefit of football?
I don't buy it.
I’m sorry if this a silly question but why can’t the the games across the leagues just kick off at different times of the day?
Perhaps too much has been made of this due to fans missing one game.
I think the solution would be to just not have any of the big teams play at 3pm. In any case, Sky and BT dropped the ball here.
I think the solution would be to just not have any of the big teams play at 3pm. In any case, Sky and BT dropped the ball here.
Because there's 40 odd games and not enough hours in a day.
It’s a strange conclusion. He is using evidence of other countries successfully bypassing the need for a blackout to.. back up the need for a blackout?
More sides have games away from 3pm these days anyway. Why would fans be upset?
It's really outdated. We had a similar experiment a lot of years ago where games wouldn't be broadcasted, because stadiums were half empty bla bla.
Result: stadiums remained half empty and games were broadcasted again.
Result: stadiums remained half empty and games were broadcasted again.
With the increased number of illegal streams available, most who are really desperate to watch a game will easily be able to.
Possibly one way to resolve would be to allow a higher % of the funds from Sky,BT etc. for a Saturday 3pm kick off being distributed to lower league teams.
Possibly one way to resolve would be to allow a higher % of the funds from Sky,BT etc. for a Saturday 3pm kick off being distributed to lower league teams.
Except it does happen as any lower league club will testify. Approximately a 20% drop in the gate when midweek lower games clash with televised Champions League games, compared to when they don't.
The problem with handing over a share of the extra profits to compensate those clubs is that, however well meaning, the effects are long-term. Such a move would slowly erode fairly small fanbases as we chip away at the opportunities to develop lifetime commitments to these clubs. Any TV deal is only short-term and the lower league hangers on would soon be negotiated out.
Who would really complain about a lack of 3 pm kick offs?
Insult the post not the poster.....sorry, just reminding myself.
This post is a massive bellend.
Yh surely the solution is really simple, just don’t have PL games at 3pm…
How so?
I thought the main idea behind the black-out these days was to encourage fans of PL clubs to go down to their local lower league team?
Is there any way to legally stream it in the UK? I wouldn't mind spending a bit of money if it avoids having to deal with the illegal streams as it is normally hard to find one of those.
Right, but surely the PL games are the only bunch of those 40 that would detract from match attendance.
Let the PL kick off at 12.30 and others from 16.30… I suppose this puts a fair few aways fans through some inconvenience but it’s not huge.
3pm kick offs? No.