The 3pm U.K. Blackout

I don't understand how the argument is fans won't attend lower league games, when the lower league games are broadcast on ifollow at 3pm anyways.

Do keep up that was a temporary lock down thing with no crowds.

That has been blocked again in the UK this season :lol:
 
I do actually go to Old Trafford at least 7-8 times a season, but due to distance it’s impractical especially with kids.

So what your saying is, I’m obliged to see less of the team I’ve supported my entire life becuase it’s impossible for me to go to every game and watching it at home means I’m somehow stopping lower league fans watch their local team in a stadium down the road from them. Pretty pathetic and unfair to be honest.

And I actually don’t stream becuase I'm useless at sorting it properly and previously end up using crap streams that lag constantly which infuriates me more than when we lose a game.

I pay for every single sports channel on Sky including MUTV, yet I’m still robbed of a large portion of my teams games when the cost of that package is probably three times as much as somebody on the continent who gets to watch every game they want and more.

I think this is a real problem, regardless of what anyones view is on the blackout. That you fork out for Sky Sports, BT Sports, Amazon Prime, and in your case MUTV, and you still can't watch every game. It's a massive financial outlay for a package that is incomplete.

It's even worse if you support a non-top 6 club. The top 6 are on TV seemingly every 4 out of 5 matchdays, roughly. United fans still have it better than most in regards to TV coverage. If you're a Southampton supporter, for the same price you'll get to see your team on TV maybe once a month. It's just terrible value.


On the blackout, Germany has a similarly excellent football pyramid, its top 4 tiers have more clubs in it than England's, yet every Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 fixture is televised and their lower leagues are still well attended. What are Germany doing differently? The cost of attending, perhaps? It looks like they do stagger kickoffs somewhat between BL, BL2 and 3Liga, but there is overlap. I don't know if that helps the attendance in the lower leagues, but it's potentially something for English football to consider. If German football can get it right for both the match going fans and viewers at home, then there's no reason why England can't.
 
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I’m very surprised the PL hasn’t considered a kind of PL+ streaming app (maybe they have, who knows) surely a subscription based streaming app is the way forward could even charge I don’t know £20-£30 for basically all games to choose from or maybe a PL+ Lite option where you pay £8-£15 and you just get your chosen teams games all season. Could maybe fill it with sporting documentaries, exclusive behind the scenes, PL years etc to fill it out over a year to have people logging in daily.

if it hasn’t already been thought of or even discussed I’d be surprised especially in today’s day and age of Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+ etc where you can tailor your viewing experience unlike scheduled broadcast television.
 
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Do keep up that was a temporary lock down thing with no crowds.

That has been blocked again in the UK this season :lol:

Again I'll repeat I watched the Oldham and Barrow game on there today, so please take you condescending tone elsewhere
 
No it's not and this sort of comparison is incredibly short sighted. Football clubs are more than just businesses and it's about time more people started realising that. It maybe as a fan of a superclub you are used to your club being a business first and foremost, but I thought it was that thinking that led many people to dislike the Glazers and the super league.

Football clubs in England are critical pillars of communities, they represent where people live, give people a chance to come together once a week, they are a hub. So no they are not shoe sellers or even Alton Towers, they are far more than just a product.

The analogy wasn't great but the point is that it is about choice. I don't disagree with you about football not being a business. I see United as central to who I am, part of my family and I am part of a community of fans with whom I share a lot.

But that is my community. If I can't watch us play I'm not going to go to matches of other clubs with whom I don't have a relationship. You can't fabricate or force community.

Ultimately if their fans are that fickle that they wouldn't go to a match when the premier league is on then you would have to question how genuine their support is or how important that club was to them and their community.
 
The average attendance at League two (the 4th tier in English football) varies between 15,000 and 1,500. It's far lower in the respective German and Spanish leagues (I even think some teams at that level are not full professional). They rely on gate receipts to survive.

If the lower league sides in other countries are coping fine then that's great for them but lower tier clubs in England would be absolutely destroyed by a hit to their attendances, that's not a price worth paying in my opinion.
This.

Take it from somebody that works at that level. Gate receipts are the main source of income. Taking that away potentially by television the Premier league would almost certainly kill many clubs
 
Again I'll repeat I watched the Oldham and Barrow game on there today, so please take you condescending tone elsewhere

You'll find that's a rare exception due to it being an international game weekend.

Outside of 3 or so of those a season, you can't use ifollow in the UK for Saturday 3pms, outside of using a vpn.
 
Correct.

This is a generational thing, very much.

I don't know a single 50+ person who'd even consider streaming a match (in any shape or form, never mind searching for illegal streams). They pay for what they watch - and if they can't watch a match on TV (via some form of subscription or other), they won't be looking for alternatives.

Even in the 40+ demographic, I'd say most don't stream regularly (they're much more likely to have some kind of subscription).

In fact, among my own group of friends and acquaintances who follow football regularly, I'd say the majority of them wouldn't even know how to do it (they just haven't gotten into the habit - and are generally in a financial position where having a legit subscription isn't a problem).
That's exactly right. I've no interest in looking for streams or watching football on a small screen. If it's not on Sky, we don't watch it.
 
This.

Take it from somebody that works at that level. Gate receipts are the main source of income. Taking that away potentially by television the Premier league would almost certainly kill many clubs

The "hardcore" support of smaller clubs will still go, irrespective of what games are on tv. It's those floating voters, the casuals that would likely be lost.
And it might not be every week, but it'd definitely have an impact.

And football watching is a habit. When broken, people can be lost.
 
It is clearly insane. No one is stopping you watching shit on a stick football if you want, so why should you stop people from watching high-quality football when they want?!
 
I’m very surprised the PL hasn’t considered a kind of PL+ streaming app (maybe they have, who knows) surely a subscription based streaming app is the way forward could even charge I don’t know £20-£30 for basically all games to choose from or maybe a PL+ Lite option where you pay £8-£15 and you just get your chosen teams games all season. Could maybe fill it with sporting documentaries, exclusive behind the scenes, PL years etc to fill it out over a year to have people logging in daily.

if it hasn’t already been thought of or even discussed I’d be surprised especially in today’s day and age of Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Disney+ etc where you can tailor your viewing experience unlike scheduled broadcast television.

I'd be stunned if it hasn't been floated. The PL knows how to market its brand and make money, that's for sure. Perhaps taking the broadcaster out of the equation and selling the product direct to the consumer is projected to make less money. Afterall, the last TV deal was 5bn or something silly. For it to work, it would likely have to be a global package, so it would take out hundreds of broadcasters worldwide. I think that would be difficult to unpick. Also, isn't it UK law that the Premier League can't be monopolised by one broadcaster, hence the split between Sky and BT? I don't know how that would work if there is no broadcaster.

It'll probably happen eventually, but I predict it's many years away. The big 4 North American sports already have this sort of platform, they were lightyears ahead of the game.
 
The "hardcore" support of smaller clubs will still go, irrespective of what games are on tv. It's those floating voters, the casuals that would likely be lost.
And it might not be every week, but it'd definitely have an impact.

And football watching is a habit. When broken, people can be lost.
Exactly.

My lot took 76 fans from South Dorset to Grimsby away last week. We left at 5:30am. And got back around 1:30am. The early game was man City v arsenal, the late game was Chelsea v Liverpool.

There was 5000 inside Blundell Park, I would be willing to bet of either or both of those prem games were televised at 3pm. That gate would likely have been halved.
 
It is clearly insane. No one is stopping you watching shit on a stick football if you want, so why should you stop people from watching high-quality football when they want?!
Theres an even simpler solution. No EPL game is played between the hours of 3pm and 5pm on a Saturday as it’s reserved for grass roots kickoffs.
 
But think of the lost gate receipts if people can stay home to watch it…

Seriously though, it’s antiquated. You can watch it legally overseas, but not in the UK - bullshit.
I don’t think it would make a blind bit of difference
I’d rather watch us at old Trafford than at home
 
Exactly.

My lot took 76 fans from South Dorset to Grimsby away last week. We left at 5:30am. And got back around 1:30am. The early game was man City v arsenal, the late game was Chelsea v Liverpool.

There was 5000 inside Blundell Park, I would be willing to bet of either or both of those prem games were televised at 3pm. That gate would likely have been halved.

Yep definitely.
I think quite a few posters can't see this, because they have no knowledge of lower league clubs and their struggles.

Take my lot Wycombe. We have all the London lot, Reading and Watford, all within 30miles. No doubt we get plenty of floaters coming in from some of that crowd.
3pm game on tv legtimately?No chance.

The stream argument is irrelevant, as many don't or won't do it. But open it up to proper tv, and why wouldn't they!
 
Theres an even simpler solution. No EPL game is played between the hours of 3pm and 5pm on a Saturday as it’s reserved for grass roots kickoffs.
I don’t know why shit football should take precedence over EPL. If I was in England, I would just stream those matches. And once you start streaming, you might continue streaming the other matches too.

If you enjoy the experience of watching two shitty teams play awful football, I do not think anyone should stop you from doing so, but stopping the others from watching their teams just in case they then might decide to go watch two shitty teams play awful football is kinda weird and unique.
 
What is it that match going fans want?

Personally when I’m at a match I don’t want 90% of the rest of the weekends football to be happening at the same time.
I think most football fans that attend games prefer 3 o’clock kick offs.
 
The idea that as a fan of manchester United if I can't watch the match I want to on tv then I'll spend money on going to watch a league two club with whom I have no relationship is farcical.
How is it farcical when you have testimony of people doing just that in this thread? Ultimately nobody is being deprived of the pleasure you’re describing. Barring during this pandemic people in the U.K. have never been able to partake in the pleasure of watching their team live on tv every week. It’s akin to me being deprived the pleasure of living a millionaires lifestyle.
 
I think this is a real problem, regardless of what anyones view is on the blackout. That you fork out for Sky Sports, BT Sports, Amazon Prime, and in your case MUTV, and you still can't watch every game. It's a massive financial outlay for a package that is incomplete.

It's even worse if you support a non-top 6 club. The top 6 are on TV seemingly every 4 out of 5 matchdays, roughly. United fans still have it better than most in regards to TV coverage. If you're a Southampton supporter, for the same price you'll get to see your team on TV maybe once a month. It's just terrible value.


On the blackout, Germany has a similarly excellent football pyramid, its top 4 tiers have more clubs in it than England's, yet every Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 fixture is televised and their lower leagues are still well attended. What are Germany doing differently? The cost of attending, perhaps? It looks like they do stagger kickoffs somewhat between BL, BL2 and 3Liga, but there is overlap. I don't know if that helps the attendance in the lower leagues, but it's potentially something for English football to consider. If German football can get it right for both the match going fans and viewers at home, then there's no reason why England can't.
Absolutely agree. It’s shocking what some are willing to pay but to many it’s the one thing they really look forward to during the week and they are limiting that with this needless blackout.

Like the idea of what you described in the German leagues. Others have mentioned that perhaps these 3pm kickoffs could be auctioned off separately and the money it generates be spread down the football pyramid as a way of more than making up for the blackout being removed.

It can’t go on, I mean when you think about it it’s incredible it’s still in place in 2021.
 
I gave Sky and BT the chop last year been using IPTV get ALL the games £30 a year if the stream buffers just jump to another channel.

Haven't looked back.
 
How is it farcical when you have testimony of people doing just that in this thread? Ultimately nobody is being deprived of the pleasure you’re describing. Barring during this pandemic people in the U.K. have never been able to partake in the pleasure of watching their team live on tv every week. It’s akin to me being deprived the pleasure of living a millionaires lifestyle.

Just because we haven't had the possibility of watching the matches before doesn't mean it is right. Or that it shouldn't be subject to change.

If you can watch the match from outside the UK but not inside you are by definition of the word depriving people of watching the match. It may not be as bad as depriving them of food and water granted but I never argued that it was.

By choosing to make something available to people outside the UK, not available to those inside it is depriving them. And for me, watching that match would be a pleasure.
 
UK viewers of the Premier league pay more to see less of their own national league.
 
They dont take precedence, neither can be televised at 3pm on a Saturday.
Interestingly no foreign football can be shown during the blackout either.
 
Because it has feck all to do with the major leagues. It is to protect the lower leagues & non league in this country and it is imperative it remains in place.

If the other countries in the world don’t have a blackout to protect the lower leagues then we don’t need one.
 
They can also go to games so it's swings and roundabouts.
Yea, they're limited on that front too, plus it's not cheap. I go to games but I wouldn't give sky or any other mafia TV broadcaster a single penny.
 
They can also go to games so it's swings and roundabouts.

It's quicker to get a flight from most major cities on the mainland to Manchester airport than it is for me to get up to Old Trafford from the south west of England.

I haven't been to OT since LvG, but I went to United games once every couple of months or so when I lived in NE Scotland and it was a 16 hour round trip, about £120 train fare, and however much I could get a travelodge for, plus the cost of a ticket.

I can get to London in about 3 hours, but zero chance of getting away tickets.


Just living on the same mass of land doesn't mean it's accessible.
 
If the other countries in the world don’t have a blackout to protect the lower leagues then we don’t need one.
Yeah that’s the attitude. Put thousands upon thousands of people out of work because some people can’t be arsed to stream a game of football (let alone just simply buy tickets and go to the fecking game).

The same people who cry that Sky are killing football the rest of the time. It’s pathetic.
 
You can see why there is a European Super League on the table, judging by some of the comments and views in this thread.
 
I think this is a real problem, regardless of what anyones view is on the blackout. That you fork out for Sky Sports, BT Sports, Amazon Prime, and in your case MUTV, and you still can't watch every game. It's a massive financial outlay for a package that is incomplete.

It's even worse if you support a non-top 6 club. The top 6 are on TV seemingly every 4 out of 5 matchdays, roughly. United fans still have it better than most in regards to TV coverage. If you're a Southampton supporter, for the same price you'll get to see your team on TV maybe once a month. It's just terrible value.
Football is not a TV show. If you supported Southampton (or frankly the vast majority of clubs at any level in the country outside of United/Liverpool/Arsenal/Leeds) then you wouldn’t have any issues getting tickets for home or away games so generally speaking you’re actually much better off given you can just go to the game.
 
You can see why there is a European Super League on the table, judging by some of the comments and views in this thread.
I was thinking similar. It is bonkers hearing fans in here wanting to bury the lower leagues only four months after they derided the owners of the big 6 for nearly doing the same :wenger:

All because they want to see Ronaldo in a United kit for 301st time... seriously bratty
 
Yeah that’s the attitude. Put thousands upon thousands of people out of work because some people can’t be arsed to stream a game of football (let alone just simply buy tickets and go to the fecking game).

The same people who cry that Sky are killing football the rest of the time. It’s pathetic.

The money involved should be used to filter down to the lower league clubs who can then lower ticket prices and advertise more to get people in.

I want people to go to matches but I don’t want to be punished just because I don’t support a lower league team.

It’s not a case of being lazy, I’ll stream every United match if I have no way of watching it legally (if I can afford to go and can get a ticket I’ll go) but it’s a stupid rule and I don’t think the proposed effect removing the ban would have would actually do much, lower league clubs would be fine.
 
The money involved should be used to filter down to the lower league clubs who can then lower ticket prices and advertise more to get people in.

I want people to go to matches but I don’t want to be punished just because I don’t support a lower league team.

It’s not a case of being lazy, I’ll stream every United match if I have no way of watching it legally (if I can afford to go and can get a ticket I’ll go) but it’s a stupid rule and I don’t think the proposed effect removing the ban would have would actually do much, lower league clubs would be fine.
Yep which would be great for clubs in the Championship-League Two but a death sentence for clubs outside the football league because the FA seems to believe football stops at League 2.

I’ve literally given multiple reasons why it would massively impact clubs over time, used real world examples & so have others. I realise people are going to have their United blinkers on but it’s an essential rule and it would be a dark day if it ever got lifted.
 
Football is not a TV show. If you supported Southampton (or frankly the vast majority of clubs at any level in the country outside of United/Liverpool/Arsenal/Leeds) then you wouldn’t have any issues getting tickets for home or away games so generally speaking you’re actually much better off given you can just go to the game.

But not everyone lives close to the team they grew up supporting. I don't anymore, and haven't done since 2008. People need to relocate for various reasons. As I said above, I went to United games when it was a 16 hour round trip from the north east of Scotland, and it cost more than I could afford. I now live on the opposite end of the country and I just can't do that anymore.

Why does televising every game in the top 2 divisions work in Germany, but would be a death sentence for everyone beneath the Premier League in England? At a glance, their football pyramid appears to be as extensive as the English pyramid, lower leagues seem to be well attended. Why can't it work here? There has to be a way to give the best for both match going fans and the TV viewership, and I don't think we currently are, comparative to other countries and even other sports.
 
But not everyone lives close to the team they grew up supporting. I don't anymore, and haven't done since 2008. People need to relocate for various reasons. As I said above, I went to United games when it was a 16 hour round trip from the north east of Scotland, and it cost more than I could afford. I now live on the opposite end of the country and I just can't do that anymore.

Why does televising every game in the top 2 divisions work in Germany, but would be a death sentence for everyone beneath the Premier League in England? At a glance, their football pyramid appears to be as extensive as the English pyramid, lower leagues seem to be well attended. Why can't it work here? There has to be a way to give the best for both match going fans and the TV viewership, and I don't think we currently are, comparative to other countries and even other sports.
Then watch on TV or find a stream. It’s not complicated.

Who’s said its a death sentence for clubs outside of the Premier League? That certainly isn’t what I’ve said in my previous post if you have misunderstood. Read back through this thread & see a comparison of their 5th tier attendances against our 5th tier gates, the difference is ridiculous.

I also love how people appear to completely give no fecks about the thousands that would be out of work when currently full time non-league clubs are able to sustain full-time football and have to revert to playing part-time.
 
I was thinking similar. It is bonkers hearing fans in here wanting to bury the lower leagues only four months after they derided the owners of the big 6 for nearly doing the same :wenger:

All because they want to see Ronaldo in a United kit for 301st time... seriously bratty

Couldn't agree more.
Fans of the product "Premier League" rather than fans of football, it seems.
 
But not everyone lives close to the team they grew up supporting. I don't anymore, and haven't done since 2008. People need to relocate for various reasons. As I said above, I went to United games when it was a 16 hour round trip from the north east of Scotland, and it cost more than I could afford. I now live on the opposite end of the country and I just can't do that anymore.

Why does televising every game in the top 2 divisions work in Germany, but would be a death sentence for everyone beneath the Premier League in England? At a glance, their football pyramid appears to be as extensive as the English pyramid, lower leagues seem to be well attended. Why can't it work here? There has to be a way to give the best for both match going fans and the TV viewership, and I don't think we currently are, comparative to other countries and even other sports.

In Germany attendance numbers are far lower for games in the lower leagues.
 
Just because we haven't had the possibility of watching the matches before doesn't mean it is right. Or that it shouldn't be subject to change.

If you can watch the match from outside the UK but not inside you are by definition of the word depriving people of watching the match. It may not be as bad as depriving them of food and water granted but I never argued that it was.

By choosing to make something available to people outside the UK, not available to those inside it is depriving them. And for me, watching that match would be a pleasure.
That change should be for the benefit of the game as a whole. I don’t think it would be. As much as I would benefit from it. I wouldn’t be on the streets fighting the change. I just don’t support it.