Martin Wickham makes the case for the away supporters facing a world where the TV audience for football takes precedence…
It’s been 14 years since Chelsea last played a league game on a Friday night, and it should not surprise anyone that, then as now, television coverage played a part. Our home match vs Manchester United in August 2002 was a natural choice for Sky Sports’ 4pm ‘Super Sunday’ broadcast, only for the Met Police to intervene upon the realisation that the Notting Hill Carnival taking place the same weekend would stretch their resources to breaking point.
The increasing number of television slots being sold to Sky and BT is happening at the expense and convenience of match going fans, and the reason for this harks back to an antiquated rule that predates the Premier League itself. The FA and Football League do not permit matches to be broadcast in the United Kingdom between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturday afternoons (the FA Cup Final was an exception). This was done at the behest of club chairmen in the 1960’s who were concerned of the impact televised Football League games would have on their gate receipts. Over 50 years on, it is sur
The first thing to note is that this embargo is easily circumvented. Pubs in the UK now broadcast 3pm games freely. An internet stream, with or without foreign commentary, can be sourced by a simple Google search. Kodi allows you to discover channels showing all the matches you could possibly want to watch within a few clicks. Even legitimate Sky boxes will air a Saturday 3pm game, provided it was purchased and registered in the Republic of Ireland! If a ban can be got around so easily, what is the point of its existence?
It can be argued that the ban on televising games on a Saturday afternoon has little to no effect on match attendance elsewhere, and to me it is a very odd, and somewhat patronising idea, that someone will be less likely to go to their teams games just because Sky or BT are broadcasting another, unrelated game at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. Match going supporters, regardless of team and division, will still go, and illness, work or family commitments are far more likely to interrupt that ingrained habit than the airing of any other televised game. Finally, in the top division at least, ticket revenue now represents a small fraction of a clubs income, so the concerns of Bob Lord et al in the 1960’s are less valid, and increasingly so for as long as the televised football bubble continues to inflate.
A couple of years ago British television viewers endured the ludicrous spectacle of having to watch Guilleme Balague (shudder) narrate the opening exchanges of a game between Barcelona and Real Madrid because the 5pm kick off time meant Sky Sports couldn’t show pictures until 15 minutes had passed. Proof if it was further needed that the Saturday afternoon embargo on televised football coverage in Britain is no longer fit for purpose, if indeed it ever was. It is an analogue rule in a digital age, and should be lifted at the earliest opportunity.
By Martin Wickham