Saturday 3pm TV Blackout no more?

[Blackestnite]

As fans it's probably best sky get it ( assuming you have sky) and show 3pms on red button like they do midweeks otherwise it's another subscription needed. Although hopefully we will be in the premier league and rarely in the EFL

The red button style of coverage would need vast improvements.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

The red button style of coverage would need vast improvements.

Would it? Does a job for when people can't get to games. Would the EFL really want the better quality coverage widespread?

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

It’s a good idea for the casual football fan

However it is a terrible idea for clubs attendances IMO

I know plenty of people who wouldn’t go to a Tuesday night match because of sky red button

 

[northsomersetblade]

The streaming platform DAZN is bidding to show every EFL match live in the UK and across the world in a move that would lead to the Saturday 3pm blackout being ditched.

If successful — and there is strong competition from rivals — it would mean that all 1,656 matches a season across the Championship, League One and League Two would be screened live. Most of them would remain on Saturdays so the EFL would need to drop the blackout.
That would mean a huge change in how English football is shown on TV. Unlike most European countries, not every match in the Premier League is made available to be watched by domestic viewers and no games can be screened on Saturday afternoons.

Under existing deals, the Premier League makes 200 matches available to three domestic broadcasters a season, and the EFL 138 games plus the play-offs to Sky Sports.

The DAZN proposal will present EFL board members with a dilemma, as they will have to balance the extra TV revenue against the possibility of clubs losing matchday income, particularly from travelling fans, who could be less likely to attend matches if they are available to watch live.
DAZN is understood to be competing against Sky Sports, the rights holders since 2002, as well as the Nordic streaming giant Viaplay — which has just started showing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s Euro qualifiers — for the next set of broadcast rights from 2024. TNT Sport, the new joint venture between BT Sport and Warner Bros Discovery, is also expected to bid, with the EFL open to a hybrid option, where more than one platform shows matches, including a terrestrial broadcaster. The auction is expected to conclude this summer.

DAZN would be open to sharing some games but wants to position itself as the place to go to see every EFL match for fans both in the UK and abroad, similar to the deal last month when it secured the global rights outside the US to every NFL match.
It believes it can handle the huge logistical demands, including having four cameras and a commentator covering every game.

The EFL rights are traditionally sold in four-year blocks but DAZN would want at least five years and preferably more.

The Sky deal is worth £119 million a year but the EFL is aiming to secure more than £200 million annually from the new deal. That is still a fraction of the £1.33 billion the Premier League earns a year from domestic rights.
Andy Holt, the chairman of Accrington Stanley, said he would need to see the details of the DAZN proposal before agreeing to the end of the Saturday 3pm blackout.

“The value of the deal is all-important as of course we don’t want to lose out,” Holt said. “Generally I prefer to see fans in the grounds but if we are all going to get an extra £3 million or whatever then of course we would look at it.”

Holt said there was “definitely an impact” on fans going to games when matches were on TV, particularly away supporters, who can make up 30 per cent of Accrington’s attendances.

DAZN’s move is an attempt to establish itself as a major player in the British market — its main offering until now has been boxing and its deal with Anthony Joshua starts this weekend.
It already holds the domestic rights in Italy for Serie A football, paying €840 million (about £745 million) a season, and last month Shay Segev, its chief executive, said the platform was positioning itself to compete with Sky, BT Sport and Amazon Prime for Premier League packages next year.

“Football is obviously very big in the UK, and EPL is an option on our menu,” Segev said at the time. “If the question is, do we have any ambition to go to this market, the answer is, of course, yes. And it’s not only ambition, it’s a high priority on my list.”

 

[Blackestnite]

Would it? Does a job for when people can't get to games. Would the EFL really want the better quality coverage widespread?

Just the one camera and low quality would need to be better.

 

[robbiez666]

Would it? Does a job for when people can't get to games. Would the EFL really want the better quality coverage widespread?

It's a poor way to watch a game. You'd at least need SUTV standard if you expect people to pay for it.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

It's a poor way to watch a game. You'd at least need SUTV standard if you expect people to pay for it.

If it stayed included in sky it would be absolutely fine. Obviously if it was a new subscription that's different

 

[DifferentClass]

Not going to happen.

 

[ThatJa]

I reckon this deal has already been agreed and they are due to announce it in the summer ready for next season, and they're leaking parts to see what kind of reception it will get.

 

[Ginger Gnome]

I reckon this deal has already been agreed and they are due to announce it in the summer ready for next season, and they're leaking parts to see what kind of reception it will get.

Sky still have the rights for next season. EFL can't really do this the season after without the agreement of the Premier League regarding the blackout (unless most Championship games get moved from Saturday 3pm every week), which would then mean the next PL TV deal would include options for Saturday 3pms. As soon as Premier League games are on TV at 3pm on a Saturday, attendances at lower division games and buys for lower division streams will drop.

 

[WF10BLADE]

Who are DAZN? Would it be a new sports channel you'd need to subscribe to?

 

[Nade]

I could watch every game on my dodgy Firestick but still have a season tickets cos it's a way of seeing my mates and it's a day out. I don't think being able to stream it love has stopped me from actually going to games, certainly not home games anyway

 

[More Bladier than thou]

Enter DAZN. They will be blowing sky’s bid out the water. Only Amazon and Netflix can compete financially. Really its a case of do the EFL do the streaming service itself or just take the money from DAZN and not have to do owt. Infrastructure is nearly complete. DAZN could also pay for all the cameras and production. Easy money for EFL

 

[Stu_Blade]

Streaming services are a big risk from a few aspects. As a group DAZN report they are the biggest sporting streaming app with revenues of $2.3billion across 15million subscribers. However revenue is one thing, they purchased other football market rights which massively hit the company's profits it's lost most than $6billion since it started in 2016. They are still just over $1.4billion in the red.

When you put the subscriber numbers in context, although they aren't mentioned in this article as an alternative Amazon Prime has over 200million subscribers who can watch 20 Premier League games included in their usual subscription.

The EFL need serious consideration in how DAZN are going to finance the deal, although they are owned by a billionaire, the company will need to chuck a lot at it. Also the product/content needs to be thought about, do you use local commentators or non at all etc and how is the income divided up between the leagues. Can you safely say Championship clubs should get more and do clubs getting parachute money from the Premier league should they be included?

 

[Stu_Blade]

Enter DAZN. They will be blowing sky’s bid out the water. Only Amazon and Netflix can compete financially. Really its a case of do the EFL do the streaming service itself or just take the money from DAZN and not have to do owt. Infrastructure is nearly complete. DAZN could also pay for all the cameras and production. Easy money for EFL

DAZN have been mentioned in the bidding in another thread. According to the Serie A page their subscription is pretty much €30 per month (£26) to include every live game. For the Serie A for the first 3 seasons deal it cost them €2.5billion to purchase the rights. Over 3 years it works out at approx £880,000 per match presuming that the funding is divided equally between the clubs. If you charged £30 a month here you would be looking at £7.50 a match just watching "your team" if 4 games in the month. Which is cheaper than SUFC TV and more accessible too. If they have the funding and dont take the piss a great opportunity.

 

[reedy63]

I am a season ticket holder on the Kop. and will be renewing for next season. not bothered about what it is on tv and whatever formats you can watch live cant go to away games done 80 following The Blades.cost of living etc. so I would be interested in paying to watch away games. but having said that it will interfere with the away following. the coppers will love that.

 

[HillmortonBlade]

Won’t do non league football much good

 

[wak1889]

I use a streaming service and watch every united away game , but I still attend home games, not every game especially if we have Tuesday Saturday at home , but I still prefer to go live to 3pm kick off than watch on TV , even if we aren't playing I prefer to watch the scores coming in than watch a 3pm kick off for a team I don't support

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Looks like sky have won the bidding

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[varkanoid]

That will mean no 3pm games and be like it is now. So giving EFL a rum do crap red button viewing whilst PL gets preference. EFL are so stupid. Or have a full back pocket.

DAZN showed the Joshua fight at the weekend. Exclusively it appeared.
Also interestingly its pronounced DA Zone by the commentators.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

That will mean no 3pm games and be like it is now. So giving EFL a rum do crap red button viewing whilst PL gets preference. EFL are so stupid. Or have a full back pocket.

DAZN showed the Joshua fight at the weekend. Exclusively it appeared.
Also interestingly its pronounced DA Zone by the commentators.

EFL will be selling to highest bidder. That's it

 

[varkanoid]

I dont think 3pm matches will ever appear in the UK through the normal channels.

 

[metalblade]

This won't make a jot of difference to attendances even lower down the leagues. Personally I never look at the results in the Premier league the simple reason being Sheffield United are not in it just yet. Is say a Grimsby Town fan or a Harrogate Town fan going to feel any different to me? Not a chance he is still going to go and watch his chosen local team. Where it will have an effect on attendances is when it is your team that is being televised on a freezing cold wet Tuesday night some might then choose to stay cosy at home and watch on the box. Lower down the leagues it could have an effect on away followings who don't manage to sell out away allocations.
I do think it will have some benefits for some who won't have to mess about going to Amsterdam or Luxemburg to watch SUTV on a Saturday afternoon when the away allocation has quickly sold out to those with about 100,000 loyalty points. As it is I no longer do away games but I have not missed a game this season the season ticket takes care of the home games and a dodgy stream is always available somewhere for away games if you look not too hard on the internet. Every away game there is 25,000 fans who would watch if it was free to air at 3.pm SUTV could make a killing if the price was reasonable and the product more reliable, put it out at rip off prices and people will just search the internet for a free stream as they do now. File sharing brought down the rip off prices of the film and music industries football should learn from that and keep the cost reasonable for fans who can't attend away games as well as for fans in other countries.

 

[sheff_blade90]

those conditions in the 1st. that were very grim. are why saturday 3pm blackouts are so vital. more for Doncaster than us but us as well. because your when sat in minus temps, torrential rain & strong winds, you risk the grounds being half empty or less. as who is going in person, in those conditions if its on tv