Just been reading an interview with the new investor at Leeds as I take an interest in them being up here.
Putting aside the fact that he seems very positive for the club and seems a lot more clued up on how to invest in a football team for success than our lot. He also talks about "potentially a website with live streaming of games allowed by the new agreement with the (Football) League next season.".
I know we're due to get a new in-house website and finally get rid of the awful Player service next year. But does anyone know about these new streaming rules?
Will we all be able to buy subscriptions that'll let us watch the games from home next year?
Link to article if anyone's interested:
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-owner-andrea-radrizzani-reveals-clear-vision-for-whites-1-8335440
Comments
It needs a great deal of thought and consideration.
Also it has to be said that as the 'Pirates' are always going to be ahead of the game most of the people that have the technical knowledge to watch a streamed game are going to be able to find one without paying.
Those with Kodi machines can stream any and all of the Saturday Premier League games and, I believe, pubs are getting in on the act and making a fortune showing them. I can't see any broadcaster thinking they can make enough money to bother setting it up.
I am finding it harder and harder to drag myself to The Valley these days, and I have a season ticket. If I could watch the games at home I'd probably stop going altogether. I couldn't even drag myself to watch Millwall yesterday. The Football League would be shooting themselves in the foot if they allowed this to happen.
If you want to watch it, get off your arse and go.
If you can't make it, buy a radio.
But maybe this is something for weeknight matches? (And even then there's a Uefa block on showing matches at the same time as Champions League/ Europa League matches.)
Not quite sure how much would be in it for Leeds as rights are sold collectively so they'd get 1/24th of a Championship deal. Would be a bit of a break for the Football League to allow clubs to sell their own streaming rights (and very harsh if you're, say, Scunthorpe). Maybe it's something the Football League wants to tack onto the next rights deal (so you'd be able to watch some evening kick-offs through Sky Go/Now TV/whatever).
I would be in favor of it. I think that law is archaic. Right now a lot of people can watch Premier League games via illegal streams, and most stadiums are still packed. Plus, the added revenue could 1) help the lower leagues close the gap on the Prem and 2) potentially allow them to lower ticket prices.
Basically, it's going to happen eventually. Pirate streams are already way out in front. You may as well cash in on what's already being done. The game has changed from 20 years ago, and you can't put the genie back in the bottle.
http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/efl-digital-new-long-term-partnerships-announced-3193708.aspx
However in this instance there is guaranteed income - tickets plus beer and food. This might not have even made money but none of that income can be generated if fans are allowed to watch the games in their homes, and I doubt that we have more demand for tickets than supply for anyone else, unless it's a significant game, and then it's likely to be on normal tv and played outside of the Saturday ban.
That said, @kings hill addick brings up a very good point about ITV digital, the infrastructure can be pretty expensive. I have to confess I was thinking more the Championship and maybe top of League One, not all the way down the pyramid. And yeah, if you have to spread out costs as well as profits, it probably wouldn't bring in much.
I still feel like it should be done.
Something that could be tried is something similar to what we have in the states for baseball--home games are "blacked out" in local regions to encourage fans to go, whereas away games are shown. I know there are a lot of ways for people to get around it, but it's just a thought.
The FA cup is not really appealing and as for the League Cup under it's various guises: forget it. I didn't even know it's being rebranded next season as the Carabao Cup and I live in Thailand! Thanks for the info. Will it bring in more Thai viewers? Well, with every game except the Final in the early hours of the morning here, I very much doubt it.
The Premier League has a huge following but even there, outside of the big six, interest wanes, though exposure against the so-called bigger clubs means certain clubs can negotiate a good sponsorship deal with Asian companies, many of whom couldn't or wouldn't pay the amounts the likes of Chelsea demand, though I'm pretty sure Singha's perimeter advertising at Stamford Bridge doesn't come cheap.