Sky's effect on attendances

I always understood that an integral part of the appeal of watching televised games was the atmosphere and excitement.

(Imagine a game played in a deserted empty stadium where all the players' shouting was audible.)

Italian football on Channel Four used to be sold as 'spectacular atmosphere'.

But if you tune in and the club's own fans don't turn up or create any atmosphere, the neutral viewer at home will more than likely come to the conclusion the game's a dud as a spectacle and switch channels.

Sky will start to realise this surely.

It's the whole works: not just the players.

 

I think it;s to do with prices as much as Sky, and whether they think it's worth going. The bigger matches get decent attendances.

The prices for tickets, even in the football league, is pathetic and needs addressing. But clubs won't do it because they'll lose revenue.

Problem with the premier league, is even if the fans of the top teams boycott matches over prices, someone would buy them and sit in their seats. Most likely foreigners on a day trip.

 

Having experienced only watching football on the TV for a number of years whilst north of the border, as I gave up wasting my money watching the dross Aberdeen and the Scottish Premier league had to offer long ago. Having now got back towards the end of last season watching live football again in God county, there is no substitute for watching live games I can assure you.

 

I have family who are Derby fans so watched their game on Sunday. They are well supported and get very good home gates so was surprised how low the attendance was. I then did think its the first weekend in August, the end of the second week of school holidays, and a lot of people are current away/on holiday and am sure that has more of an impact then it being on Sky. I think it is far to early to start the season personally but World Cup year dictates.

It's no doubt Sky has had an impact but I think that impact is both negative and positive. During the better weather months, Sunday at 4pm is a pretty rubbish time for away fans traveling a fair distance, so I can understand someone choosing to spend they day with the family/kids out and about and still being able to watch the game on tv, rather than spend most of the day traveling, including getting home late to watch it live at he ground. In the rubbish weather months, when there is less to do due to weather it maybe isn't so much of an issue.

 

Has the amount of Sky subscribers now reached such a level that fans watch their own team on TV, rather than turning out to watch them live, even for the opening game of the season?

be a sad day if thats is the case.... too many so called fans who watch the teams only on sky, radical new pricing for live games is needed,half price atleast. dont get me started on the murdoch ruined game

 

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I think this is a great thread and worthy of a bit of thoughtful discussion, as I reckon there are a few things that need thinking about, as the televised games seem to get fewer and fewer spectators in the stands.

Has factory fortnight played a role this week – many still on holiday? I think it is a small thing in the bigger scale of events, but would it help if the FL managed this and kicked off a week or two later? Or, perhaps, a season with a summer and a winter break that incorporates the need for traditional factory breaks?

Ticket price and the ability to buy (most times) cheap £10 tickets play a huge part. Out of about 20 guys (Newcastle and Sunderland) that used to have season passes just 5 years ago, about 10 – 14 have let them go; and that is in just one pub. Are we all seeing it the same?

Can we blame Sky for that? Maybe, but not really; that might sound daft, but if all we could get were the legal Sky games then many folk would be far less interested in going to the pub to watch the games. I know loads of guys who would rather have a good pint and banter with Sky Sports News and Jeff Stelling and team in the background, than watch some other clubs game (except for the odd gem.) on a foreign channel that freezes and has **** commentary. So is it Sky, or is it the pubs and the authorities’ lack of policing the so-called broadcasting rules?

The fact is that, unless you are one of the big guns (how many games per season do ManU, Chelsea, etc. get on Sky?), your Sky subscription will only get you a few live games and the rest as late replays or highlights.

Could it be that folk are simply falling out of love with football? The money, the in-your-face players, the screwed-up ownership circus, the TV baloney will all have an effect, but is football as a spectator sport with it rules, officials and library atmosphere simply becoming something best caught up with on the box? Is the passion still there as it once was?

 

Would be useful to compare to other leagues in the world that also have televised games.

Our tickets are cheaper than yours and every game for every team and every sport in the country is shown live. You can get your local team with basic cable so you do not need to pay for a sports package. It is hard to compare you to us as our population pool for teams are much larger than yours. Maybe it is also a function of you all going to away games which is something that is basically unheard of here. Do fans who do not have season tickets spend money in someone else's stadium instead of paying to watch an extra game at the KC?

Perhaps Germany or France would be a more useful comparison?

One has to imagine that someone has done a study of the effect of TV on a league.

 

Its not Sky, its everything.

Cost of tickets.

Cost of travelling to games.

Apathy in general with football and footballers

Internet is still a free source of being able to watch most games

A fair few I imagine would rather spend 20 quid in a pub on some drinks and watch on a big screen

Glory Hunting fans who'd rather support a "big team", buy their shirts but never go to their games due to distance and the points regarding cost.

It's easy to blame Sky, but they're just one small part of a larger problem in the beautiful game.

 

I don't think the streams available on the internet have anywhere near the effect people think. Ticket and travel costs are the biggest issue

 

Years ago their used to be live football on terrestrial TV, Sky just took everything to a new level when they got involved, putting money in, which in turn made the clubs richer, so they spent a bit more on players, then the players realised that there was more money & wanted it too which took money from the club. So they then had to up the prices for the fans & now it's spiraled to a point where it goes one of two ways. 1 people still go & pay stupid money but the majority don't, teams go bust, football is a few teams of professionals & lots of part timers that play for teams that used to be proper teams. 2. Nobody goes to football & everyone watches it on TV at home, in the pub, clubs decide no need for big stadiums as no one goes anymore, pretty similar scenario, clubs go bust except for the few.
Until the prices come down players & their wages it'll just keep going up & up. This FFP was supposed to bring it into line but seeing Madrid throwing stupid money around proves its pointless.
You could look at the US & see the huge money they are on. But when you look at the sports there's probably at the most 40 teams in each sport spreading out the fans. Plus the US has many more people so comparisons are hard but still relevant to a point.

 

Airplane tickets booked to london for the game ..its on tv here in malaysia but you just cant beat the first game of the season atmosphere