It seems the EFL are using the international weekend as an excuse to allow UK streaming of league games on iFollow, including Saturday 3.00pm kick offs, which were previously completely out of bounds. The EFL clubs seem to know nothing about it and it's not gone down well, Andy Holt at Accrington is having a proper Twitter rant - https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt
Don't see the issue? Isn't the whole argument against televising 3pm the idea that pl games would cannibalize the football league?
No it isn't just about the premier league , I know the media give the impression that it is all anybody cares about but the majority of fans who go to games care about their own team and league much more
I'm not sure you understand what I was saying. I was under the impression 3pm games can't be televised to stop people staying home and watching some pl game and instead going to their local side's game.
I think Newland may have omitted the word ‘not’. The 3pm ban is not specific to the Premier League, it is to ensure TV games don’t discourage attendance at all levels of the game.
No I get that, I just figured the chance to stay home and watch Sunderland-Scunthorpe wouldn't dissuade you from your local game. Unless the point is a large chunk of people would stay home and watch their own fixture on TV, but I'm pretty sure studies have shown that doesn't have any grounding in fact. Think the UK is the only place to do this sort of thing.
It might dissuade Scunthorpe fans from travelling to Sunderland though I haven’t seen any studies like the ones you describe to be honest, because I always assumed it was for that reason as well. Maybe I’m weird, but there’s no game in the PL, or la Liga, or anywhere else that I would choose to watch over watching a City game live...but there have certainly been times when it’s been tempting to stay in the pub and watch a game on telly instead of walking across the road and going live. I haven’t done that I have to say, but I’d never do it to watch two teams I don’t support
Well no other country does it so you think they'd have reasons. I did see an article on a study done so I'll see if I can find it. I would think having streams for supporters that can't travel or afford to (and of course away allocations are a lot smaller so by nature can't fit every traveling fan) would actually be FOR supporters and a positive, not something to condemn.
Most other countries’ atmosphere is more fun! Anyway I wasn’t condemning anything, I was just saying what I always assumed the reasons were Personally I’d ban tv full stop
Most supporters of any club don't go to away games. The restriction on radio commentary makes little sense too, people can hear it in Hull and yet can't outside the broadcast area.
Nobody knows how much of an effect it would have on travelling support if 3.00pm kick-offs were televised, as it hasn't happened, but it would obviously have an effect. I've traditionally done most aways, but I'm far less likely to travel if it's televised, particularly if it's a long way away. It's particularly important for League One and Two clubs, who get a large percentage of their revenue from gate receipts and the third and fourth tiers of English football are far bigger than third and fourth tiers elsewhere.
Following reports that the EFL will allow its clubs to break the 3pm blackout this weekend by broadcasting games to UK audiences via its iFollow service, the FSF has issued the following statement: “The Saturday 3pm blackout is part of the tradition of English football and maintaining that is crucial to the economic survival of many clubs lower down the football pyramid. “Almost eight and a half thousand fans completed the FSF's National Supporters Survey in the summer of 2017 with 72.7% voting in favour of the 3pm blackout. “Supporters largely back the blackout as they see it as a tool to protect lower league clubs. It’s disappointing to see the 3pm blackout undermined by iFollow streaming for this weekend’s 3pm kick-offs. “This has been implemented without any consultation with supporters and the FSF will be raising the issue with the EFL directly.”
