If we’re talking about society as a whole, then I think it’s the complete opposite. Older folks are the ones who seem to want everything to be the way when they were younger, and can’t see the need for new ideas or evolution of different facets of society. They’re the ones with the sense of entitlement if anything.
The 3pm U.K. Blackout
- Thread starter esmufc07
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If we’re talking about society as a whole, then I think it’s the complete opposite. Older folks are the ones who seem to want everything to be the way when they were younger, and can’t see the need for new ideas or evolution of different facets of society. They’re the ones with the sense of entitlement if anything.
I'm not.
Depends what you’d call “massive United fans”, they’ve both been to United games with me this season so I’d definitely call them a reasonable level of fan? I think they would just prefer to spend their Saturday afternoon at a match rather than in front of their laptops.
I'm one of those older folk, and I don't want to watch an illegal stream. I'm happy to pay for what I watch, and see it in high-quality on the TV. If it's not on TV, well that's too bad.
Streaming isn't just about things not being available on Sky and the other pay channels. When there's a game on Sky or BT, we get loads of people wanting links to streams. That's because they don't want to pay for a subscription to satellite or cable.
None of that has anything to do with entitlement, although you could say it has a bit to do with honesty. Generalisations about everyone over 50 or so are daft, too.
You’re right, younger people do tend to think more of themselves.
The 3pm Blackout is old and outdated but as long as it keeps the lower leagues a float and unless they get a better alternative which I cant see one being possible at the moment, it should stay. Because SKY wouldn't let a streaming platform happen (eg. like NFL Game Pass where you get every NFL game for like £150 for the year) cause that negates there biggest money earner. But if a streaming platform did happen, percentage of that could go to non league clubs to negate the loss at the gate.
I don’t think it’s an age thing at all really. People who are older and have a sense of entitlement were probably the same when they were younger too. It’s a twat issue, not an age issue.
It’s for dinosaurs like Martin Tyler.
Damn the lower leagues getting disrespected in here
The only way age is relevant in this discussion is that younger football fans are many multiple times more likely to stream football matches than older fans. And that's something those who think the blackout is vital for lower league clubs will have to contend with in the long run, as the proportion of fans who are comfortable streaming grows and grows. If it's not yet an outdated measure then it's increasingly becoming one, unless you think streaming broadcasts from other countries is going to somehow become more difficult as the years go by.
It's a solution from an analogue age that is being left behind. If that's what the football pyramid is built on then something's gonna have to give. Entitlement of any age group doesn't come into it, you just can't expect a measure that was designed for 1960's television to continue working into the 21st century.
It's a solution from an analogue age that is being left behind. If that's what the football pyramid is built on then something's gonna have to give. Entitlement of any age group doesn't come into it, you just can't expect a measure that was designed for 1960's television to continue working into the 21st century.
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Those games will never be on 3pm ever again nor will any game that will come anywhere close to the viewers they bring in
Agreed. For reference, the last time a man united v Liverpool game kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday, it was 2004 and United lost at home to a late Danny Murphey pen.
I still remember the fallout from that on Talkshite etc. Somehow it was a sign that nobody cared about these two great clubs anymore and Chelsea v Arsenal would be the future of English football.
Not while the slot isn’t being televised. If the blackout was listed then 3pm Saturday slot would be fair game for TV providers so there is no reason one of those games would not be in that time slot.
90s? it dates way back before that. In the 1960s and 1970s, even the radio couldn't reveal which game they were covering until a few minutes before kick off and the only way you knew a game was on telly is when you arrived at a ground and cameras were there
Indeed. United are never off the telly.
I assume you mean fans of other clubs still watch United/City/Chelsea, and they may well do, but not at 3pm on a Saturday when they may then choose to go and put some money into their local side.
We should go the other way with it and scrap all lower league football and turn their stadiums/pitches into giant viewing areas to watch 3pm Premier League matches.
Anyone know how many of Man United games are Saturday 3pm kick offs in the past decade or so?
This isn't a "gotcha", I'm genuinely wondering. It's gotta be really low, right?
This isn't a "gotcha", I'm genuinely wondering. It's gotta be really low, right?
'The Spanish/German/Italian lower league clubs do just fine', say posters with a definitely thorough and informed knowledge of the Tercera División
Posters from other countries posting on an internet forum shocker
I'd guess the reason would be that it would still be competing with the other 3pm kick offs, which would likely impact the overall viewership of one of their flagship fixtures. I would have thought broadcasters would want a big fixture like United v Liverpool to be isolated, as it attracts a lot of neutrals.
In the other leagues, the biggest fixtures aren't usually played at the same time as other games in the same league, even though they're all televised. Bayern Vs Dortmund isn't ever in the 2:30pm slot alongside 4 or 5 other fixtures. It would be in the evening, or Friday night.
I would doubt we'd see the type of fixture at 3pm change if there was no blackout. Though there'd possibly be the odd exception. I remember a Newcastle v Sunderland game being a 3pm kick off not that long ago, which seemed mad at the time.
This is exactly the point. If the top 6 sides are on TV at 3pm on a Saturday, loads of kids who would otherwise go to watch their local side, won't. They'll never form the bond with the club and will never become fans. Current fans of a lower league sides will, likely still go, but it's the next generation of fans that's lost. I think that potentially applies to sides outside of the top 6, even in the PL.
The argument that "some people use streams" is rubbish. I suspect lots of people on here do given that there are fans are from all over the world and/or they're the type of people who spend a lot of time online. I know next to nobody personally who does. The average punter doesn't stream games at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.
I honestly think you over estimate the viewing figures of top sides v lower league clubs. The tv stations have the analytics for games and that’s why they’re left at 3pm untouched.
Over here in Ireland is an example. We get 3pm kick offs but none of us are staying in to watch City v Norwich if there’s a GAA club match on.
It’s not just match goers. Are you basing your Saturday around Liverpool v Norwich?
This is pretty much my take on the topic as well. I don't have a particular issue with the blackout for the simple reason that it's getting only getting easier to find a way to watch a united match at 3pm on a Saturday.
To your point, the percentage of fans comfortable with streaming a match is ever growing, so the blackout being relied upon as a pillar of the football pyramid has to change at some point regardless.
When every game was televised last year, the big games never appeared on non prime, Asian kick off times. The tv stations wouldnt put on big games at 3pm when so much of their footballing viewing public have their own games to go to.
What part of ‘I want to watch EVERY single Man Utd game’ don’t people understand?
It’s not asking the earth, viewers outside of the UK get to do exactly this for a fraction of what we pay in subscriptions.
The viewers, like myself, who pay crazy money every month are the ones pouring endless cash into the premier league clubs pockets, we deserve to watch every game our clubs play, it’s not even asking a lot imo.
The obvious solution would be to move all premier league games to a Netflix style type program and arrange them all to kick off at 2pm Sunday.
On the face of it, I could see the lower sides retaining their vital attendances, the elite sides will always know their schedule etc.
Yep they're persevering with a 1960's concept and thinking it will continue to work in the 21st century. If it is effective currently (which I'm sceptical about) it's hard to imagine it will have much of a positive effect on attendances 10-15 years from now.
If 3pm PL games are ever televised a percentage of those profits should maybe filter down to lower league clubs to replace the lost income.
Very low I would say, probably only 5-10 3pm kick-offs most seasons.
That was a surprise at the time. But Sky's reasoning was they wanted to focus on the title race/relegation battle and only had three games to choose from (under the 2001-04 deal). Newcastle v Chelsea and Tottenham v Arsenal were Sky's picks that weekend, and Leeds v Portsmouth over on PremPlus.
My point is that if football is available, live at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and that becomes the norm, a whole generation of fans who may have gone to watch their local club (whatever level they play at) with their mates and then follow them in the future, may choose to stay in and watch that instead given how much cheaper and easier that would be.
The kids wandering around in Ronaldo/Grealish kits at five or six years old may well just continue to sit in and be armchair fans of those clubs, even if their local side is decent.
In your example, you prioritise GAA and that's fair enough, but I assume that's because you have close ties to your local club, probably having been to games and enjoyed the experience. If you'd never done that, you may feel differently.
Not sure for the last few seasons or so, but I know a couple of years ago United had the fewest 3 pm kick-off out of any team in the league. Presumably, that would change if they were televised.
I've posted in this thread earlier, and ultimately I would get rid of it as I think it's outdated and I question how much it would actually hurt the lower league clubs. With zero evidence to show for it, obviously, none of us know. But I'm not exactly mad that it still exists. There's still plenty of football on TV to satisfy anyone's needs, and I can always get a stream of it anyway. Which I guess would make me a criminal in your eyes!
Oh I’m not even going to deny that. Symptomatic of s society that gets what it wants more often. Unfortunately I’m not immune to that and as selfish as it is, I just want to be able to watch my team above all else.
Any channel in Ireland have it?
How about even most non match attending people have better things to do that watch football on TV on a saturday at 3pm.
Yeh fair enough. To be honest I think there are different kind of fans. I know afew season ticket holders at Utd who really just go because of the social aspect and the experience rather than the football itself. There’s been times I’ve asked them about a game they attended and they couldn’t even tell me the score because they drank that much and were just there to sing etc. Nothing wrong with that per se but I think there are other fans like myself who are happy to just watch the football at home or down the pub and focus on the game itself. Either way I can’t really imagine missing a Utd game unless I’m forced kicking and screaming!
Entitled fecks the load of us. But it brings positives and negatives, either way I would be amazed if this blackout rule doesn’t change in the next decade or two!
I think the lower league fans are being massively disrespected when it comes to this 3pm blackout argument. I know loads of non league fans and they are as diehard in their support as fans of top teams.
PL 3pm Saturday matches being on TV wouldn’t stop real fans from going to watch their lower league teams play.
PL 3pm Saturday matches being on TV wouldn’t stop real fans from going to watch their lower league teams play.
I didn't even know this existed, but if it indeed helps lower league teams, then by all accounts it should stay.
In fact, I think the FA should be doing even more to help the lower leagues with the PL money, if they're not doing already, such as dedicate a small percentage of the PL TV rights to lower leagues teams for their facilities and academies.
For once, it will make minimal difference to the PL teams,but a huge difference to the lower leagues, and it is something that in the long run will really benefit English football.
I wish other countries did the same.
In fact, I think the FA should be doing even more to help the lower leagues with the PL money, if they're not doing already, such as dedicate a small percentage of the PL TV rights to lower leagues teams for their facilities and academies.
For once, it will make minimal difference to the PL teams,but a huge difference to the lower leagues, and it is something that in the long run will really benefit English football.
I wish other countries did the same.