Live Streaming Season 21/22

[FirParkCornerExile]

I see the SPFL have agreed with Sky that live streaming all SPFL games can continue next season excluding Sky's live Broadcast games, even if fans are back in grounds. Doncaster has said response to streaming has been magnificent. Seems its dawned on the SPFL the streaming service is very lucrative. Typically as with all things SPFL change is forced upon them. They looked at streaming all top flight games about 6 years ago when there was doubt over a Sky deal. They looked at a similar model the Dutch chose which brought millions into their game but as usual they shat it and ran to Sky for a complete pittance. Maybe one day the ruling body will do something that's innovative and isn't forced upon them, rehashed from the 70s, tried and failed already or merely copying what happens in England. 

[steelboy]

Hopefully the club will have figured out how streams work by next season.

[weeyin]

13 minutes ago, steelboy said:

Hopefully the club will have figured out how streams work by next season.

You know it's not the club that actually does the streaming, right?

[Brazilian]

41 minutes ago, weeyin said:

You know it's not the club that actually does the streaming, right?

It’s the club that are selling it

[CoF]

4 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I see the SPFL have agreed with Sky that live streaming all SPFL games can continue next season excluding Sky's live Broadcast games, even if fans are back in grounds. Doncaster has said response to streaming has been magnificent. Seems its dawned on the SPFL the streaming service is very lucrative. Typically as with all things SPFL change is forced upon them. They looked at streaming all top flight games about 6 years ago when there was doubt over a Sky deal. They looked at a similar model the Dutch chose which brought millions into their game but as usual they shat it and ran to Sky for a complete pittance. Maybe one day the ruling body will do something that's innovative and isn't forced upon them, rehashed from the 70s, tried and failed already or merely copying what happens in England. 

Not sure I share your enthusiasm. Good news in the short term, but as soon as restrictions are lifted it should be binned and focus turned to innovative ways to get more folk through the turnstiles. 

 

[ohwulliewullie]

6 hours ago, CoF said:

Not sure I share your enthusiasm. Good news in the short term, but as soon as restrictions are lifted it should be binned and focus turned to innovative ways to get more folk through the turnstiles. 

 

Agree with you... the implications of this could be significant, especially for the number of away fans in stadiums. In my case for example, I probably go to about 60% of away games normally. I’ll definitely think twice about a midweek trip to Perth or whatever (or any away games if the weather is particularly bad) if I can buy the stream, then save money and time and sit in the house and watch it. Looking at the other side of the argument, I’ve probably bought two thirds of the away game streams this season. And obviously there could be many more fans who live further away or can’t / don’t go to the away games anyway who’re prepared to pay for a stream. 

[Kmcalpin]

9 hours ago, CoF said:

Not sure I share your enthusiasm. Good news in the short term, but as soon as restrictions are lifted it should be binned and focus turned to innovative ways to get more folk through the turnstiles. 

 

Agree 100%. If it isn't binned after restrictions are lifted, then even some home fans will stay at home to watch games from the comfort of their armchairs.  

[bobbybingo]

And once they're gone...

Got to lower admission prices. £12.99 to sit on your arse versus 20-30 quid, plus travel, plus food/drink. I don't know how much revenue streaming's brought in, but keep it going as it is and you're gonnae have empty stands.

 

[FirParkCornerExile]

18 hours ago, weeyin said:

You know it's not the club that actually does the streaming, right?

yeah but what is really strange is the quality of stream from almost every club is better than Motherwell get , why is that with the same company. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

16 hours ago, CoF said:

Not sure I share your enthusiasm. Good news in the short term, but as soon as restrictions are lifted it should be binned and focus turned to innovative ways to get more folk through the turnstiles. 

 

Even when a similar model revolutionised the finances of the Dutch league?

[FirParkCornerExile]

5 hours ago, bobbybingo said:

And once they're gone...

Got to lower admission prices. £12.99 to sit on your arse versus 20-30 quid, plus travel, plus food/drink. I don't know how much revenue streaming's brought in, but keep it going as it is and you're gonnae have empty stands.

 

I think you will find streaming prices will rises rather than gate prices come down.

[FirParkCornerExile]

6 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

Agree 100%. If it isn't binned after restrictions are lifted, then even some home fans will stay at home to watch games from the comfort of their armchairs.  

Thats not how it turned out in the Netherlands

[FirParkCornerExile]

10 hours ago, ohwulliewullie said:

Agree with you... the implications of this could be significant, especially for the number of away fans in stadiums. In my case for example, I probably go to about 60% of away games normally. I’ll definitely think twice about a midweek trip to Perth or whatever (or any away games if the weather is particularly bad) if I can buy the stream, then save money and time and sit in the house and watch it. Looking at the other side of the argument, I’ve probably bought two thirds of the away game streams this season. And obviously there could be many more fans who live further away or can’t / don’t go to the away games anyway who’re prepared to pay for a stream. 

So would you rather see 400 fans come from Aberdeen and same Hibs / Hearts and the club continue to have static revenue streams  when streaming would get get money of thousands of them? Not on a crusade just playing devils advocate.

[ohwulliewullie]

3 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

So would you rather see 400 fans come from Aberdeen and same Hibs / Hearts and the club continue to have static revenue streams  when streaming would get get money of thousands of them? Not on a crusade just playing devils advocate.

Could you clarify what you mean? Not sure I get you. My point wasn’t really in favour of one option the other, just that it could be significant... but the big unknown is how many people are paying for a stream. 
 

Just to make up an example with round numbers:

- No stream, 500 away fans paying £20 = £10K income

- Stream available, away support drops to 300, £20 each = £6K income. So you’d then need 400 paying streamers at £10 each (say) to get to the same £10K overall income. 

And this ignores home fan streamers. I’m obviously just making this up... if we knew how many home / away fans have been paying for streaming, we could get more precise about it. I’m assuming the powers that be think it will increase revenue overall. I think they need to be careful about increasing the stream price though... in my case, I’m ok to pay £10 or £12 but if it was much more I’d be far more tempted by an illegal stream... it’s a fine line, that different people will make their own call on. 

[bobbybingo]

31 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I think you will find streaming prices will rises rather than gate prices come down.

Mibbe.  And if it costs 20 quid to stream a game, they lose that revenue too. Question is, do they want fans in the stadiums or not?

[Spiderpig]

Apart from the the ugly sisters and their Edinburgh cousins the number of away fans turning up at Fir park is poor  seems to be the dedicated hard-core  supporters who will always turn up. 

Making all matches available on PPV is going to decrease those numbers even further, how many Aberdeen, Ross county ,Dundee untd fans etc are going to travel to Fir park on a freezing wet midweek night or weekend to see the game?

Given the option of paying £12 instead of £20 plus travel costs, food etc its a no brainer, they will stay at home.

The live streaming was a sensible option for this season given the circumstances, but long term it will  discourage fans from attending matches and clubs will suffer. In my opinion there is already too much football on TV, but the SFA/ SPFL and clubs have sold their souls to Sky and the other broadcasters in search of more and more cash to a point where its now the broadcasters deciding when games get played, not for the clubs or fans benefit but to meet their schedules.

We have already seen this week the greed of the so called elite clubs and their owners to create a closed shop and try to get more cash from the TV companies with no thought for the fans.

Live broadcasts and streaming of games has to be available in the modern game, clubs need the money, but they need to get the balance right or what we have seen this season might become the norm, 

 

[CoF]

45 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Even when a similar model revolutionised the finances of the Dutch league?

Do you know what it did to attendances? Genuine question - It's not something I know the first thing about, I've just assumed you'd lose fans at the actual games. 

[StirlingDosser]

56 minutes ago, CoF said:

Do you know what it did to attendances? Genuine question - It's not something I know the first thing about, I've just assumed you'd lose fans at the actual games. 

I don't think it will make a huge difference. For example myself I now attend around 4 games a season tops for a few reasons. Combination of issues mean I can't make it very often. This season I've bought streaming passes for at least 10. I believe there will be quite a few like me! Potentially the club hasn't lost out massively on ticket revenue this season. It will be interesting to see the figure come the end of the season?

The core 4 thousand at Fir Park I struggle to see changing. 

[Pepper]

Now the genie is out of the bottle it's going to be impossible putting  it back in, and rather than removing options for viewing games (which is a real lifeline for lots of people) clubs should be focused on making sure there are more reasons than ever to attend games in person. 

One of those reasons, imo,  is having a fans group like the Bois. Win lose or draw, these guys have a great time and are a draw for young fans all on their own. I'd wager a lot of life long Well fans will start in the Bois,  and the club should be doing everything they can capitalise on it.  

 

[FirParkCornerExile]

3 hours ago, ohwulliewullie said:

Could you clarify what you mean? Not sure I get you. My point wasn’t really in favour of one option the other, just that it could be significant... but the big unknown is how many people are paying for a stream. 
 

Just to make up an example with round numbers:

- No stream, 500 away fans paying £20 = £10K income

- Stream available, away support drops to 300, £20 each = £6K income. So you’d then need 400 paying streamers at £10 each (say) to get to the same £10K overall income. 

And this ignores home fan streamers. I’m obviously just making this up... if we knew how many home / away fans have been paying for streaming, we could get more precise about it. I’m assuming the powers that be think it will increase revenue overall. I think they need to be careful about increasing the stream price though... in my case, I’m ok to pay £10 or £12 but if it was much more I’d be far more tempted by an illegal stream... it’s a fine line, that different people will make their own call on. 

Sorry get your point now. However Hearts have 15,000 season ticket holders if we stream games you are looking at a few thousand subscribers ditto Aberdeen and Hibs even if actual attendee numbers drop. If it worked for the Dutch league why not for Scottish Football... again playing devils advocate.

[Kmcalpin]

3 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Thats not how it turned out in the Netherlands

I know nothing of Dutch football. Do you know what attendances are like there? Do they achieve full houses?

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 hour ago, StirlingDosser said:

I don't think it will make a huge difference. For example myself I now attend around 4 games a season tops for a few reasons. Combination of issues mean I can't make it very often. This season I've bought streaming passes for at least 10. I believe there will be quite a few like me! Potentially the club hasn't lost out massively on ticket revenue this season. It will be interesting to see the figure come the end of the season?

The core 4 thousand at Fir Park I struggle to see changing. 

I think there could be potential for increased income from home fans but I think the real potential is with away fans.

[FirParkCornerExile]

2 hours ago, CoF said:

Do you know what it did to attendances? Genuine question - It's not something I know the first thing about, I've just assumed you'd lose fans at the actual games. 

I'd need to goo back and look from memory the attendance werent really  altered it was the increase in Revenue from streaming. Ill see if I can find the article again.

[CoF]

3 hours ago, StirlingDosser said:

I don't think it will make a huge difference. For example myself I now attend around 4 games a season tops for a few reasons. Combination of issues mean I can't make it very often. This season I've bought streaming passes for at least 10. I believe there will be quite a few like me! Potentially the club hasn't lost out massively on ticket revenue this season. It will be interesting to see the figure come the end of the season?

The core 4 thousand at Fir Park I struggle to see changing. 

It's great for people like yourself, of course. I'd be worried that for others in your position, those 4 games a season become 2 games a season. And the fans who go to 10 away games a season, go to 5 instead. While the total number of people viewing the game in total might increase, I can't see it doing anything but chipping away at actual attendances.