Watching football legally in the UK

[Chief123]

As we all know, we still have this crazy law whereby games on a Saturday between 3-5pm can't be shown live on any UK broadcaster channel.

With the majority of us being avid Utd supporters, its impossible to watch us play live every game unless we use "alternative" means of viewing. And those that use these alternative means obviously understand its illegal.

Surely, the premier league should understand that by getting rid of this law, Sky & BT would be able to show every game live and therefore bring in more revenues due to the fact people won't need to look elsewhere.

I currently dont have a Sky or BT subscription, however I certainly would if I was able to watch every utd game on UK broadcasters legally.

Is it about time they ditched this stupid law? I can understand why it was brought it in back in the day in order to avoid having empty stadiums due to fans watching the matches at home. But in this day and age, I have full belief that every ground in the premier league would still be full even if every game was shown live on telly. Its not like its hard to watch it live anyway using "alternative" means.

Would you be happy to subscribe to Sky & BT if every game would be shown on there?

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I know a girl in Ecuador

Like many countries, they show EVERY United game live, regardless of Kick off time

What's more is that i was speaking to her once while United were on BT Sport and they were like 20 seconds in front of us.

But yes, don't get why UK can't show every match when other Countries can

 

[JakeTheRed]

I believe it's in place to ensure that lower league clubs get ground support/revenue from local fans, rather than them watching a PL team live on TV.

 

[Rado_N]

Look at @LawCharltonBest knowing a girl.

 

[Chief123]

I know a girl in Ecuador

Like many countries, they show EVERY United game live, regardless of Kick off time

What's more is that i was speaking to her once while United were on BT Sport and they were like 20 seconds in front of us.

But yes, don't get why UK can't show every match when other Countries can

Yeah it is ridiculous that you can go to a middle eastern country for example and watch every single Manchester Utd match live, but you could live in Manchester and only be able to watch a select few games that the british broadcasters are able to show.

 

[balaks]

I've always thought that the way to do it would be to offer a yearly subscription with which you can watch every single match played by your team of choice. I'd definitely sign up for it and I haven't had Sky for around 15 years.

 

[duffer]

But yes, don't get why UK can't show every match when other Countries can

If you're in the UK you can go to the game (is the argument).

 

[Chief123]

I've always thought that the way to do it would be to offer a yearly subscription with which you can watch every single match played by your team of choice. I'd definitely sign up for it and I haven't had Sky for around 15 years.

I'd absolutely sign up for that too. It's a no brainer to me. Who wants to faff around with unreliable streams or buffer nightmares.

 

[Adam-Utd]

I think with the lockdown this has shown the tv companies what can be done.

Before it was probably deemed too much hassle to show every game live, but they've done it pretty flawlessy I think.

I understand "why" they have worries about lower league football, but honestly if you want to watch United at 3pm you'll find a way. if you'd rather go to non league football you will.

I suspect in the next few years the rule will be abolished.

 

[Bondathon]

I always thought this was brought in to protect lower league clubs, rather than to avoid empty stadiums?

As in, they were worried that if people could sit at home and watch the Premier League, there might be a big drop in the number of people going to watch lower league football?

 

[Chief123]

If you're in the UK you can go to the game (is the argument).

It's incredibly hard to get tickets for Utd games except for a weekday lesser team game.

 

[SilentWitness]

I know a girl in Ecuador

Like many countries, they show EVERY United game live, regardless of Kick off time

What's more is that i was speaking to her once while United were on BT Sport and they were like 20 seconds in front of us.

But yes, don't get why UK can't show every match when other Countries can

I thought the supposed reason was because it’s to encourage people to go to their local game in England rather than watch it on TV at home.

So it would be like if Ecuador made the rule applying to Ecuador league games.

Its a silly rule as it’s so easy to find a river if you want to find it to watch your club play.

 

[hellhunter]

If you're in the UK you can go to the game (is the argument).

I'm curious, are there other countries with this line of thought? In Germany, every first and second league match is broadcasted. Until a couple of years ago, you only needed one provider, Sky, by now it's a bit more distributed.

 

[Lynty]

Likely not.

Alternative methods are too accessible to warrant the £40+p/m outlay.

Make it harder or make it cheaper.

 

[The Cat]

I believe it's in place to ensure that lower league clubs get ground support/revenue from local fans, rather than them watching a PL team live on TV.

This is what is always brought up every time this is talked about yes.

I can understand the need to protect lower league clubs they need all the help they can get.

 

[Mb194dc]

Premier league coverage is far better in the US and numerous other countries than it is in the UK where it's actually played. They can watch every game and pay peanuts for the privilege. Loads of streaming and other options to watch as well.

Current situation with the UK football rights is like dinosaur era of TV. Far better ways of doing sports coverage now exist with the internet and new technology and it's only a matter of time before things change radically. Can be better for fans but probably not financially for the clubs I think.

 

[nutmegrush]

If they don’t want to clash PL games with local games then just have them kick off and different times.

Better yet, broadcast more local games and send some of those revenues down to grass roots.

As someone said above they clearly have the technology to handle multiple concurrent broadcasts.

In any case I’m behind the sentiment that it’s too far difficult to follow the team thought it the season. From the 3pm broadcastibg ban to the corporate power struggle.

 

[acnumber9]

This thread gets created at least 8 times a year. It may be good for big clubs and their fans but it wouldn’t be good for smaller clubs. Not everyone streams games.

 

[HabeasC]

I think the argument (as others have mentioned above) was always that the 3pm game ban is to encourage people to go to games (incl. lower league games) rather than watch on tv.

To me, this is totally non-sensical for a few reasons. Watching a game on tv versus going in person is such a different experience and activity, it is hard to call it a substitute. The fact a game was on tv would not in itself mean you'd throw away your ticket to the game and watch at home instead.

Similarly, given the limited number of tickets to see the PL games and that these are mostly held by season ticket holders, it is not a genuine choice between the two, for most people in any case.

With regards lower league games in particular, it is not convincing an argument at all that a Millwall fan would choose to not go to a Millwall game because Manchester United or Liverpool were being shown on tv at the same time. Likewise, I don't think that because Manchester United or Liverpool were not on tv, those fans would necessarily go to a lower league game instead.

 

[BazzaBear]

Do other countries have the huge pyramid of leagues that we do in the UK? I can't see why they wouldn't, but I wondered whether that might be why it's more key to encourage attendance to lower league games here.

 

[TsuWave]

don't they say it's to encourage match attendance? I find it silly. I just want to pay for a service that allows me to reliably watch my club play.

 

[Damien]

Is it about time they ditched this stupid law? I can understand why it was brought it in back in the day in order to avoid having empty stadiums due to fans watching the matches at home. But in this day and age, I have full belief that every ground in the premier league would still be full even if every game was shown live on telly. Its not like its hard to watch it live anyway using "alternative" means.

Of course they would. That was never the issue.

The rule was brought in to protect lower league/grass roots football which tends to kick off around 3pm on Saturdays and increase the attendances there.

 

[Chief123]

Of course they would. That was never the issue.

The rule was brought in to protect lower league/grass roots football which tends to kick off around 3pm on Saturdays and increase the attendances there.

If thats the case, then I guess they might as well start showing the premier league games all live because people are still going to stay at home and watch the matches using a stream rather than attending lower league games.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Look at @LawCharltonBest knowing a girl.

She's nice. She's helping me learn Spanish

 

[WelshManc]

A Netflix like Premier League platform should be introduced, I'd happily pay a monthly subscription for it rather than pay anything towards Sky and BT.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

It’s a farcical rule and I hope it gets changed. I should be able to watch my team in this day and age. Having said that I can’t see the rule changing as most football fans who support lower teams seem to enjoy it. All my friends enjoy the whole ‘Saturday Saturday’ thing and whenever I bring up this comment they say they like it the way it is.

 

[duffer]

If thats the case, then I guess they might as well start showing the premier league games all live because people are still going to stay at home and watch the matches using a stream rather than attending lower league games.

There's a vast number of footballs fans who have Sky but don't know what a stream is. There's also a fair few who are not criminals.

 

[NinjaFletch]

Of course they would. That was never the issue.

The rule was brought in to protect lower league/grass roots football which tends to kick off around 3pm on Saturdays and increase the attendances there.

Yeah, but there isn't a huge amount of evidence that it works. It was merely someone's suggestion (Burnley's chairman I believe) back in the 60s.

At the very least, I think football fans are owed a proper study into the effectiveness of the blackout, but I think it's looking increasingly antiquated in a global world, anyway.

 

[Lay]

What I don’t get is how the 3pm rule here also stands for Spanish games. I recall sky showing the El classico 15 mins later due to the law. What’s that about?

 

[48 hours]

I know they use the people won’t go to lower league argument....but hasnt it already been decided that we will be back to the 3pm blackout from next season even if nobody is able to go to the stadiums due to the virus? seems a stupid decision if so

 

[Bojan11]

I know they use the people won’t go to lower league argument....but hasnt it already been decided that we will be back to the 3pm blackout from next season even if nobody is able to go to the stadiums due to the virus? seems a stupid decision if so

Thats because Sky and BT have been moaning that showing too many games devalues the massive contract they paid for premier league.

 

[duffer]

What I don’t get is how the 3pm rule here also stands for Spanish games. I recall sky showing the El classico 15 mins later due to the law. What’s that about?

The law says they can't show live footy on TV.

The worry is people would rather stay at home to watch Barca v Real Madrid than go out to watch Exeter v Colchester.

 

[48 hours]

Thats because Sky and BT have been moaning that showing too many games devalues the massive contract they paid for premier league.

Makes you hate sky and BT, you would think the extra ad revenue would be an incentive for them currently

 

[Adam-Utd]

Thats because Sky and BT have been moaning that showing too many games devalues the massive contract they paid for premier league.

What? how does that work. Surely they get more viewers and can then earn more in adverts and sponsorship etc? No idea how too many games can be a bad thing.

 

[Mihai]

If there was a relatively competitive package that would show all United games irrespective of the broadcasting time, I would be all for it. As it stands, i am better off investing in a vpn and watching some high quality streams.

 

[sammsky1]

I think this subject will be a core part of the new 2023 TV rights which The Premier League will auction next year.

 

[Mihai]

The law says they can't show live footy on TV.

The worry is people would rather stay at home to watch Barca v Real Madrid than go out to watch Exeter v Colchester.

If everyone was like Fridge, they wouldn't have to worry about that.

 

[Rado_N]

I still think my idea from 2017 is the solution:

What the PL should do is scrap 3pm Saturday games completely and move the standard PL fixture spot to Sunday, thus avoiding the blackout and leaving Saturday 3pm slots to Championship and below.

They should then completely cut Sky and BT out of the equation and sell their product directly to us the consumers via an online based service - think Netflix for football.

This can be a subscription service with apps for smart TVs, mobile phones, tablets, PS/Xbox etc or via web browser, with every single game available to watch live.

They could sell this subscription for a lower price per month than we are currently made to fork out for Sky and BT Sport and by cutting out the middleman the PL still bring in more money overall, and I'd also wager more people would take up the option to subscribe when they get every game via one source for a more reasonable price.

Netflix has shown that people are willing to pay for content when they're not being ripped off, and the NFL has shown this model to work with their Game Pass system.

PL needs to embrace the technology available in digital media, everybody wins. Except Sky and BT, they lose, which is another bonus.

 

[SirAF]

If everyone was like Fridge, they wouldn't have to worry about that.

 

[Chief123]

I still think my idea from 2017 is the solution:

I see what your saying.

The problem with moving all premier league games to Sunday’s would mean Champs league games could not take place on a Tuesday. They would have to all take place on a Wednesday which UEFA probably wouldn’t agree to as they want to spread it over two days for more TV rights money and bigger number of viewers.

At the moment any team that plays on a Tuesday european game always plays on the Saturday before it.