There’s a global pandemic on, and it has been estimated that Tottenham Hotspur is currently losing out on approximately £3million per home game in lost revenue, as fans are no longer allowed to attend matches. Add to this vast numbers of people being made redundant each week, as many businesses either sleepwalk into bankruptcy, or fold entirely, and one can imagine how many calls BT Sport and Sky are getting each week from people who can simply no longer afford to splash out on what has suddenly become a luxury.
In an effort to plug the financial gaps, the mighty wits of the Premier League bosses and the broadcasters have hatched a cunning plan in order to keep the money coming in.
According to Martin Lipton for The Sun, the plan is to make every single game available to view for those who have purchased subscriptions from them, but only on the broadcasters’ Apps. Which essentially means you get to watch a football match on your telephone, opposed to on TV while you relax on the sofa you still haven’t paid DFS for.
The remaining 5 Premier League games (which are all 3pm Saturday kick-offs) will be available on a Pay Per View basis, which one will be able to watch conventionally on your settee, via one’s TV set. For an additional £14.95 per game.
I take a view that these deals suit only one side, and all those on it are being extremely naive if they believe this is a vaguely sustainable approach. As the United Kingdom is in the grip of another wave of the virus, it is ambitious to believe that there is any quick fix on the horizon when it comes to getting fans back into stadiums.
It is also worth highlighting that many of those supporters will be included in the UK’s daily announcements of huge redundancies, and that with limited money coming into households, satellite subscriptions will magically become onerous luxuries. I take a view that DFS won’t take your furniture back, but once you eventually get through to the cancellations’ department, broadcasters will be unable to sweet-talk broke people into lashing out over £100 a month on TV when they only have state benefits coming in.
Fans are left with stark choices. Pay up, steal it, go back to radios, or forget about it. Pubs with subscriptions to broadcast are becoming difficult to find, as the country sleepwalks into bankruptcy, and quite how fans in the digital age will take to listening to games on the wireless again is anyone’s guess.
My prediction is that legitimate viewing numbers will fall and illegitimate ones will soar. I’ve zero interest in watching games on a mobile phone, and I will 100% not indulge PPV fees on top of my already bloated monthly subscriptions.
Er, are you going to back any of that up with statistics or scientific evidence? It’s common knowledge that the 10pm thing has zero scientific behind it. Just a hunch from a politician.
What about all the crowds piling out into the streets and into booze shops, all going back to houses to carry on drinking. Did you see the pictures other week? In fact pubs should stay open even later so that people drift away in smaller numbers over a few hours.
‘People are dying everywhere’, even if the figure for actual Covid deaths is 46k, out of a population of 66m that’s a tiny amount. If that number nearly all of them would have been in the vulnerable category.
Protect the vulnerable and get on with it while trying to keep the infection rate down. The infection rate has to go up unless you want endless lockdowns.
The amount of people who’s lives will have been shortened in some way because of the restrictions over the next decade is insurmountable. People who had other medical problems are already being told that their lives have been cut short by the lockdown stopping treatments etc.
Fans can be distanced in stadiums, loads of people in the game say it will be safe. But you’re right are you? 👌 😂
Aye. They (usually) make the money back on the booze/custom. Pubs fill out for matches dont they and everyone has more than one pint.
People are dying everywhere. This disease is everywhere. If rules like the 10pm pub rule wasn’t in effect then many more would be dying. Crowds in public places like stadiums isn’t inexcusable, rules like these are patently a necessity.. Facts… EASTY OUT! 🤣
No wonder a Tottenham boozer was charging Tottenham court rd prices.
That’s the lolly mate, a landlord pal of mine confirmed it last week.
BT Sport is *currently* less than £200.
Longer i reckon,even then how long it will take to distribute it ? This will take years and our grand children will still be paying for it ? no one is talking about the debt and how its going to get paid ,,amazes me.
A grand a month. While they’re being ordered to shut an hour early (no science behind it btw) with already reduced numbers with zero standing allowed.
We cannot go on like this for much longer. Protect the vulnerable and let everyone else get back to greater normality. There is no other way if a vaccine is 3-6 months away, or longer.
A grand a month? Is that how much they have to pay? WOW! never knew that
How long can pubs keep sending Sky a grand a month?!
Ive always used dodgy links and modboro anyway so not much would change with me ,i might have paid £5 for a few games but no chance of £15 .
Rondon from Swansea still looking hopeful with Carter vickers going the other way or even loaning Rondon back to Swansea.
What are peoples predictions for the season after the topsy turver start to the season ?
I have actually no clue for top 6.
Same. I have now dedicated a laptop on Windows platform for television. It seems that Android OS’s get outdated rather quickly, and struggle to keep up with Kodi updates and with good refresh rates.
The laptop allows more links to work more efficiently, and Windows OS keeps up with Kodi quite well. I just make sure to run a good anti-malware program after each viewing session.
To me, subscriptions are fine up to the point of obvious greed. When large networks are all dipping into the pie, I begin seeking other viewing platforms. Subjective, I know.
To me the policy makers during this pandemic have been so far a rabble of unimaginative toffs and ostensibly millennial f*ckwits advising whoever writes this current shambles into law.
Shutting pubs and restaurants at 10pm, not letting fans into stadiums with a very simple seat spacing arrangement is really inexcusable. When one considers the long term harm to both the economy and people’s well being. Both mentally and physically.
How long do we go on with his ad hoc approach?
Time to maintain the message that the wider population stay ‘careful’ but it’s time to focus attention on protecting the vulnerable and keeping hospital admissions and ultimately the Covid 19 death rate down. Whilst allowing a substantial degree of ‘herd immunity’ to take place. Ladies and gents, it has already happened to an extent, why are we slowing down the immunisation of the majority of the population?
Speak to any expert and they will tell you that it is impossible to contain a pandemic in this way without causing greater harm to a 65 plus million population.
Boris and his charges are clueless, and have no idea how to proceed. Look at the state of the track and trace! The man is all rhetoric and zero substance.
We need to get smart and stop pretending that we aren’t a heard of animals. What the f*ck else are we ffs?!
‘Project fear’ has no mid to long term feasibility. We need clever people and not clueless sheep running this…
Yeah we’ll all be relying on re-runs soon, live football will become a luxury for the few. I’ve been with Sky for donkey years and get a good deal, as long as I can still afford it I will carry on, even if we live on stale pasties.
I Chromecast Spurs TV from the computer in glorious HD to the second tv. You have to love technology.
Mirror your screen onto the tv and watch it on your phone tv mirror screen
Mirror your screen onto the tv and watch it on your phone tv mirror screen
The only option I really have is to watch a Spurs game a day later on Spurs TV for free. To be honest, I don’t have a spare $70 – $90 per month for a Foxtel subscription.
Pretty disgraceful but not unexpected. The only thing that is going to hurt these parasites of the beautiful game is massively reduced income as the punters choose to view via ‘alternative’ streams. The flow-on effect will be how much the TV broadcast rights package will decrease in the next year or two, which will impact clubs financially. If you choose to view it on a mobile is there the option to cast to a smart TV or device?
The “blue coats” Tottenham. Niiiiiice boozer to watch Tottenham. A tenner can’t buy two pints of the black stuff though, but who Care’s. 🌚 can buy 5 baby chickens with that though. (The best chickens to buy. Cut it in four please mate🌚
Games on phone not that bad wouldn’t pay for it tho…..