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EFL could stream matches and scrap 3pm protection


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9 hours ago, nile said:


All this will do is create the death of of our football history and league format.

we could easily push regular fans away.

lower league clubs survive on gate receipts, they have no margins.

 

football is for fans

Although I 100% agree that football is for fans and that reducing live crowd numbers is bad for football and particularly bad for smaller clubs the reality is it’s already super easy for fans of Wednesday and indeed all clubs to stream any game they want (home or away). 
 

So far it hasn’t had any discernible impact on attendance numbers. As to why I don’t really know, my guess is streaming appeals to a different audience than the full matchday experience does.

 

But even if long term you are right and streaming will kill the game as we know it, it is already too late to put the genie back in the bottle. Once a technology exists it will be used. And entertainment industries just have to adapt or die. 
 

The only way you can stop streaming is to ban cameras entirely from the stadium. And given that nearly everyone has a HD camera in their pocket that is going to be impossible…

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On 11/06/2022 at 18:18, Mighty Quinn said:

Don't the clubs get 80% of the fee and pardon me if I'm thick but why do you stream home games if you attend..??

I don't attend home games in person and I don't stream on ifollow 

So chansiri sees nothing of my money 

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If they are worried about the factor of it effecting attendances lower down the chain, just charge more for the streams so it's a harder choice.

 

If you lived in Sheffield and can pay £10 for Ifollow or £30.00 to go to the game, for the half hearted and less involved it's easy. If the Ifollow ticket was £25.00 they might be more inclined to go to the game.

 

For those who are die hard but might have a wedding or what have you - the option to have a 'legal' platform to watch the game, and slyly watch the game whilst the speeches are on, could be appealing. 

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On 11/06/2022 at 23:39, Tewkesbury said:

At least now they'll have the choice.

 

At the minute, if you can't get to games, why be a Wednesday fan?

You can't follow it on TV, no green un any more, just them two prats on the radio and 20 seconds of a 2 hour TV programme.

 

Man City are on TV nearly every week.

 

If you're a young lad who lives 2 minutes from Hillsborough but can't afford tickets, who are you going to follow? Wednesday, who you've seen play twice last season, or Man City who you've seen 20-30 times.

 

The main reason the young ones follow the big clubs over local is accessibility. They see these teams every day, where lower clubs are just something that causes traffic on a Saturday. 

 

Bringing the accessibility may have a short term impact, but in the long run, could bring a whole new generation of fans that would have been lost to the big EPL teams.

 

The answer is to find new ways to get them into the stadium.

 

Cheaper tickets, deals, whatever.

 

It's not like there is a shortage of seats.

 

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On 11/06/2022 at 23:39, Tewkesbury said:

At least now they'll have the choice.

 

At the minute, if you can't get to games, why be a Wednesday fan?

You can't follow it on TV, no green un any more, just them two prats on the radio and 20 seconds of a 2 hour TV programme.

 

Man City are on TV nearly every week.

 

If you're a young lad who lives 2 minutes from Hillsborough but can't afford tickets, who are you going to follow? Wednesday, who you've seen play twice last season, or Man City who you've seen 20-30 times.

 

The main reason the young ones follow the big clubs over local is accessibility. They see these teams every day, where lower clubs are just something that causes traffic on a Saturday. 

 

Bringing the accessibility may have a short term impact, but in the long run, could bring a whole new generation of fans that would have been lost to the big EPL teams.

 

1 hour ago, owlinexile said:

 

The answer is to find new ways to get them into the stadium.

 

Cheaper tickets, deals, whatever.

 

It's not like there is a shortage of seats.

 

 

The only way you are going to attract new fans in any sensible number who don't have a natural link to the club , is one thing and one thing only  and that is Premiership football.

 

Cheap tickets may get a few curious souls in  but lets say it as it is 3rd division football is rubbish.

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2 hours ago, owlinexile said:

 

The answer is to find new ways to get them into the stadium.

 

Cheaper tickets, deals, whatever.

 

It's not like there is a shortage of seats.

 

Why into the stadium?

 

The more people you can reach, the better.

 

You need people to make a connection with the players, the club. Getting them in seats comes after.

 

Making Wednesday games available and accessible cheaply and at home will do that.

 

My two oldest kids don't like Hillsborough.

The boy doesn't like the noise and the girl can't be bothered with getting there and back, and being stuck in one seat all game.

 

My boy exclusively follows non league.

 

My girl follows Man City, as she sees them on TV all the time, and she's made a connection. Her favourite player is Gundowan, she has his shirt.

 

If Wednesday were on TV every week, it would be a Wednesday shirt. (She does have the pink one by the way).

 

That's two fans lost by Wednesday being less accessible than local non league and the EPL.

 

Bring ifollow to every game, there will be many households with the game on every week, with other people in the house making those connections, and the attending games will come later.

 

There are also the elderly, disabled, busy or skint. If it's such a community asset, why can't they watch games too?

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1 hour ago, Geedee said:

 

 

The only way you are going to attract new fans in any sensible number who don't have a natural link to the club , is one thing and one thing only  and that is Premiership football.

 

Cheap tickets may get a few curious souls in  but lets say it as it is 3rd division football is rubbish.

 

I disagree as I am sure that many (or even most) of the plastic children, who follow the PL clubs, are not really interested in the quality of the football.

 

What makes the PL so attractive to the youngsters is the media coverage, peer pressure / the sense of belonging to a group of people,  availability of game coverage but also the news and gossip about the players.

 

Man City has 4 Million fans worldwide, makes a nice profit and still has empty seats in their stadium. 

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Pretty sure that research doesn't back up the claims that clubs would take a huge hit (May have been an Athletic article with citations).

 

Imo it's an outdated strategy which was conceived on the shaky assertion that fans would forgoe the clubs they support to watch the big 6, which is nonsense. Given where I live and my commitments I can't get to many games but would happily watch on ifollow if it were an option and of course financislly support the club. 

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Been and interesting thread. As has been said, the genie is out of the bottle with regard to anyone being able to access all games now if they wanted. 

 

I'm not sure the fan who lives near Sheffield would prefer to watch on TV and those that do, already do so, some not paying a penny into the club for the privilege.

 

It also shows that there is a desire for fans around the country, not close enough to get to games regularly to access games and that additional revenue streams are open to the club. 

 

I genuinely don't see the problem with a digital season ticket option,  akin to the price of a standard season ticket and for those with a digital season ticket, opening up access to away games (whether chargeable or not).

 

As I said earlier in the thread, I'd pay the advertised season ticket price to watch home games and a tenner or so for away games. 

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3 hours ago, Geedee said:

 

 

The only way you are going to attract new fans in any sensible number who don't have a natural link to the club , is one thing and one thing only  and that is Premiership football.

 

Cheap tickets may get a few curious souls in  but lets say it as it is 3rd division football is rubbish.

 

1 hour ago, GermanBird said:

 

I disagree as I am sure that many (or even most) of the plastic children, who follow the PL clubs, are not really interested in the quality of the football.

 

What makes the PL so attractive to the youngsters is the media coverage, peer pressure / the sense of belonging to a group of people,  availability of game coverage but also the news and gossip about the players.

 

Man City has 4 Million fans worldwide, makes a nice profit and still has empty seats in their stadium. 

My point is not about global fans they obviously are not going to go to the game anyway  but the fact that the only way you make Wednesday attractive to local youngsters with no Wednesday background is by premiership football.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Geedee said:

 

My point is not about global fans they obviously are not going to go to the game anyway  but the fact that the only way you make Wednesday attractive to local youngsters with no Wednesday background is by premiership football.

 

 

It's by making it accessible.

 

Premiership football is on tv constantly. Everyone watches it so they all talk about it. They see the games and watch the players, they have a connection.

 

With Wednesday, what connection do they have? Do they even know what the players look like?

 

With ifollow on saturdays, the potential is there for Wednesday to be on constantly, for it to be talked about. Families watching the football together. Friends watching the football together.

 

I'd say if you polled every Wednesday fan, most are fans in name only and have very little connection to the club in reality. How many have watched more Wednesday games than Liverpool or Man City?

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Think it would massively reduce match day attendance and not sure even with the increase in viewers paying to stream it would cover the reduction in revenue. The big clubs who will always sell 80% of the ground due to visiting fans it would be ideal, but if you’re sat in L1 and your teams heading for a mid table season, it’s too tempting even now to stay at home, even without an official stream.
 

Even if they offered it as an extra to a ST or at a slight additional cost to a ST so you could decide between the two (attending or streaming), you would end up with a Netflix situation where 3 or 4 people would be sharing one access. No one can stop more than one person watching the same TV. 
 

Would love something like it as I live too far to attend every game now, but think it would be the beginning of the end for those outside the Premier League.

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On 10/06/2022 at 06:52, @owlstalk said:


 

Before I start - yes - I know that you can get a dodgy firestick and nudge nudge wink wink be captain edgy and stream games on dodgy streams - this thread isn’t about that.

 

so…
 

The current tv deal is up for grabs again and it’s possible that streaming could become a thing for all games including 3pm Saturday matches

 

This means anyone anywhere could buy a match pass to stream the matches live anytime - even fans sat in their homes in Sheffield could stream every Saturday 3pm kickoff match if they choose to

 

The chairman of Tranmere Rovers believes it could irreparably damage attendances though as some people would choose to switch to staying home and watching on TV’s etc

 

Currently attendances are strong in the lower leagues (countries abroad who have streaming for all games can’t believe the attendances we get In the lower divisions)

 

What do you think?

 

Would it impact attendances at games if people had the option to watch on TV?

 

Surely on those bitterly cold winter days when matches are on it could be a tempting option (especially if you live a few hours away in the UK)

 

Is this the right time to look at things with the cost of living crisis pushing living costs through the roof and putting all entertainment (not just football) down the list of priorities?

 

A family paying to watch a stream would save thousands of pounds over a year by all sitting and watching streams on their big TV together 

 

Friends could gather round a big TV with food and even beers to watch matches instead of all heading down to Hillsborough

 

It offers more choice but would more people be put off going to the game or would it get more people (especially younger fans) into Sheffield Wednesday?

 

Streaming is available for most other sports now. Streaming is a thing but would it damage the game long term or improve it?

 

For matches that are streamed live the club would get income from it 

 

Should streaming be a new, modern option for football fans in this day and age?

 

 

 

I wonder what sort of price they can offer it at?

 

IPTV is cracking value and with people having to tighten their belts many more will turn to this.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Quickly Kevin said:

 

I wonder what sort of price they can offer it at?

 

IPTV is cracking value and with people having to tighten their belts many more will turn to this.

 

 

 


Agreed

The Brexit damage and Cost of living crisis will drive people to seeking out ways to survive financially and things like IPTV will boom I reckon

 


Owlstalk Shop

 

 

 

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I'd like to see as many options offered as possible. 

 

I live an hour and a bit away, on a low-ish income, so a season ticket doesn't quite work. It would if the recently talked about 'monthly subscription' idea started to gather legs. Membership worked really well this season for me, and that's my favoured option again for next season. 

 

Any game I don't go to, I want to watch on the laptop / mirror onto my TV. I've happily paid a tenner each time, and would continue to do so. If I'm waiting on payday, I go with listening to commentary - I pay £3.50 a month or so to be able to listen on the radio. If some sort of loyalty points could be worked into that system, great, but not a biggie. I would rather pay a tenner than watch it on a dodgy stream, as long as I'm 100% sure the money is going to go directly to the club. I wouldn't pay any money to watch any other other live sport on TV, its either Wednesday or free to air stuff for me. 

 

Having said that, I've grumbled about the actual quality of what I pay for - I know its not much, but things like the 'Round the grounds' radio silence, going off air at half time with mental music, no pre match build up - it's just annoyingly amateurish. I'm sure some other clubs are great at it (I remember Leeds seemed to have it nailed) and we're also far from the worst. But it is something we should really be looking at imo. The costs would be minimal. 

 

My priorities are 1) attend the game if possible. Nothing quite like it. 2) watch it on my laptop (happy to pay) 3) listen on the radio (happy to pay a smaller amount - though I have to pay as I'm out of the radio sheffield area. Unless I drive my car up to the top of the nearest hill and sit in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Grezus Bezzus said:

The way I see it working is that it helps subsidize the ticket price. 

 

Clubs needs to make the day out more appealing and affordable than watching at home and that comes through atmosphere.

There’s more atmosphere on the moon than there is at hillsbro

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