Comments on: Opinion: The Great 3pm Blackout

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:47:56 +0000

A really good article, i would like to add that, i now live 300 miles away from where i grew up. The cost of transport to and from the game + the ticket price comes close to £100 pounds. I love to follow my team but the costs involved mean i cant go to watch them week in week out, even when there is no 3 o clock kick off, sky decide not to show some of the games they hold the rights to! So why hold them in the first place? I feel Tv coverage is of poor value for what we pay in the UK, and hopefully some Fa official who is interested in the general viewing public rather than who is going to give them the most money, has read this article!

By: lazysportsfan

lazysportsfan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:40:19 +0000

I would tend to agree with Gav here. Going to a live game is a far different consumer experience to watching it on tv. They are not substitute products

By: 3nil.co.uk

3nil.co.uk — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:41:22 +0000

Opinion: The Great 3pm Blackout …

av’s latest opinion piece – this week he examined the “3PM blackout” in England of a Saturday afternoon…

By: Des

Des — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:26:54 +0000

“Let’s face it, the decent fixtures of any weekend are already moved outside of the blackout zone,”

Because the TV companies want to show them. They can’t show them at 3PM Saturday, so they pay to move them to nono-traditional times. Your argument is circular.

By: Des

Des — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:24:21 +0000

This article is so full of inaccuracies it’s unreal.

“it’s crowds aren’t going to suffer, ” Premier League crowds are already falling.

“So enter the BBC with their free-to-air Championship coverage.”. – Not at 3PM though.

It’s fine to sell 3PM games to the foreign market, these people don’t go to the games.

The clubs rely on gates, if you start showing ManU/Liverpool/Arsenal/Chelsea/City at 3PM, the likes of Burnley, Wolves et al will suffer. A certain percentage of their crowds are casual football attenders, who simply would not go if a “better” product was on TV.

By: Gav Reilly

Gav Reilly — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:18:33 +0000

Kev – That’s the usual argument, but I’m just not all that totally convinced that the lower attendances would be genuinely threatened if 3pm games were to return. Let’s face it, the decent fixtures of any weekend are already moved outside of the blackout zone, so I really don’t know if a fixture like Chester vs Gateshead in the Blue Square Premier would see their attendances falling just because people have the option of watching Bolton v Stoke on ESPN.

By: Richard Walsh

Richard Walsh — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:14:09 +0000

Very good article. Food for thought on both sides of the argument. Perhaps there’s some middle ground where they can show games whose tickets have been pre-sold at over 85% or something?

By: Kevin Coleman

Kevin Coleman — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:29:12 +0000

Superb article yet again, Gav.

Restoring live 3PM game has it’s good points, and disadvantages.

The major one, which you mentioned in your post, is the threat to lower league attendances. While Premier League teams have their bed rock, what’s stopping a minoirty of fans who support, say, Chester City, staying at home and watching United at Fratton Park?

It’s a major threat, one clubs like Chester could do without. And that’s enough to keep the idea of 3PM games on TV in the distance.