First Row Sports to be blocked

Originally Posted by Adz

The MLB do it as well and it's great value. Works out around £80 and you can watch every single regular and post season game.

There's blackouts though, so you couldn't watch Yankees games through it if you lived in the NY area etc.

Yeah I presumed it was aimed at International markets rather than Americans. Still, US sport ahead of European sport, what a shocker.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

the main thing for me is still the fact that United are already on tele far too much, and so I welcome the continuation of the broadcasting rules on that basis alone even without all the other stuff I've mentioned

first off, it's going to happen. The demand is there, and the money will be tapped in to once those in charge wake up.

Being on TV 'too much' won't be a problem in the future. When the money moves away from TV and towards streaming, the demands of TV companies will become less important and we'll actually see more Saturday games, not less. The content provider can stream every game at once instead of squeezing them in to a couple of channels with various timeslots, which necessitates Sunday and Monday games. For none match going fans this is only a good thing - the schedule is much easier to follow. For match going fans, I do foresee them bringing kick-offs forward a little because the majority of the potential audience live in timezones ahead of the UK. But then again, you'll be getting less daytrippers and ticket prices are guaranteed to go down, making it affordable.

The major issue in the future will be the cost of watching a stream. It's fine to charge one price for the NBA, because their audience is going to have a predictable income bracket, but for football you can't charge people in China £30 for a game as you would in the UK. But you can't really charge people in the UK £30 to stream a game and only £5 for people in China... well, you can actually, and the @#%&!s in charge will almost certainly do that.

Originally Posted by MrBishi

first off, it's going to happen. The demand is there, and the money will be tapped in to once those in charge wake up.

Being on TV 'too much' won't be a problem in the future. When the money moves away from TV and towards streaming, the demands of TV companies will become less important and we'll actually see more Saturday games, not less. The content provider can stream every game at once instead of squeezing them in to a couple of channels with various timeslots, which necessitates Sunday and Monday games. For none match going fans this is only a good thing - the schedule is much easier to follow. For match going fans, I do foresee them bringing kick-offs forward a little because the majority of the potential audience live in timezones ahead of the UK. But then again, you'll be getting less daytrippers and ticket prices are guaranteed to go down, making it affordable.

The major issue in the future will be the cost of watching a stream. It's fine to charge one price for the NBA, because their audience is going to have a predictable income bracket, but for football you can't charge people in China £30 for a game as you would in the UK. But you can't really charge people in the UK £30 to stream a game and only £5 for people in China... well, you can actually, and the @#%&!s in charge will almost certainly do that.

I take it your view is that the only reason they haven't tapped into the money yet is because they haven't seen the market? that just simply isn't true at all tbh. they haven't finished selling the product they currently have. broadcast rights are still growing.

i'd also suspect that if every single game was freely available (for a fee) then it would increase the broadcasters' desire for kick-offs to be staggered across the weekend not decrease it, so not sure what you're on about there tbh

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

I take it your view is that the only reason they haven't tapped into the money yet is because they haven't seen the market? that just simply isn't true at all tbh. they haven't finished selling the product they currently have. broadcast rights are still growing.

i'd also suspect that if every single game was freely available (for a fee) then it would increase the broadcasters' desire for kick-offs to be staggered across the weekend not decrease it, so not sure what you're on about there tbh

Because a streaming subscription service will soon be more lucrative, and will have primacy over TV broadcasters, so whatever suits streaming takes priority. There's no need for staggered kick-offs - those who want to watch Utd will watch Utd's game, those who want to watch Liverpool will watch Liverpool's game. The very nature of the audience is partisan, they're not going to be there for watching everything back to back like a Lord of the Rings marathon.

Originally Posted by MrBishi

Because a streaming subscription service will soon be more lucrative, and will have primacy over TV broadcasters, so whatever suits streaming takes priority. There's no need for staggered kick-offs - those who want to watch Utd will watch Utd's game, those who want to watch Liverpool will watch Liverpool's game. The very nature of the audience is partisan, they're not going to be there for watching everything back to back like a Lord of the Rings marathon.

the point is that they don't need to yet, not that they never will. BT have just whacked a huge wedge into the pot so there's some way to go yet.

the point about the staggered kick-offs is that the overall product is the competition itself.