EPL, Sky TV and Football Broadcasting

[Charnwood]

We continue to read comments blaming Sky TV for buggering up the game they invest so much money into. If it wasn’t for Sky TV the best players in the world wouldn’t be playing anywhere near the UK and our stadiums would be falling apart. Even worse the best English players would be playing abroad and clubs like ours would most likely have gone bust through lack of interest.

Be thankful that Sky have raised the profile of football through the roof and because of this the Premier League is a global commodity and no longer of interest only to the English. If it wasn’t Sky showing live football it would be another of the numerous dedicated Sports TV Channels that operate across the globe such is the public demand to watch top level sport. It’s not just football either Liz, it’s Basketball, Baseball, Boxing, Formula 1, Golf, NFL, and Tennis, you name it, all the sports that the public at large want to watch are all accessible thanks to TV. Furthermore the pay and prize money players of these sports receive is astronomical.

The public at large don’t want to read about major sporting events after it happened anymore, they want to watch it “live” and those of us who watch Town on ifollow are perfect examples of this.

I guess Sky would be much happier putting less money into football but the going rate is set by the EPL and driven by market rates. I’m sure Sky would be happy keeping more of the money for themselves and their shareholders but that’s not the way it works.

It could be worse we could be fans of Basketball which is recognised as the highest paid sport in the world, with the average annual salary in the NBA in 2023 being nearly $10.5 million which is more than double the average salary of a Premier League player.

If it’s the immoral amount of money being banded around people don’t like, don’t blame Sky, blame the EPL for creating a bidding war amongst the broadcasting companies and selling to the highest bidder. Even worse wait until the current broadcasting contracts expire as the EPL are already talking about cutting out the middlemen such as Sky, BT Sorts and BeiN etc and setting up their very own EPL TV Channel. If that happens even more money will be shared out amongst the Premier League clubs who will become richer, pay higher wages and demand larger transfer fees.

In my opinion over the last 30 years Sky have done more good for the game than harm. My only gripe is the way they control fixtures and switch kick off times with total disregard for the fans of the clubs involved. But I guess that’s a small price to pay for the money they put into the EPL coffers. I just hope and pray it doesn’t go one step further with EPL games being played 7 days a week which we’re already getting very close to.

I thought this subject worthy of its own thread rather than muddying the discussion in the Transfer Thread. I’m sure there will a wide range of views to share.

Like Marmite, love it or hate it.

[number 9]

I hate marmite, but I love football! Over the years, I completely lost touch with English football due to my travels and lack of access. Sky TV is the best thing that’s happened for global football/soccer fans. Sure it’s frustrating to see the overinflated transfer fees, but that’s more to do with rich clubs exploiting Sky’s investment. Thanks for posting your thoughts on this so eloquently, Charny! I agree 100%!

[shabba]

Excellent post. What also annoys me is when people say ‘200k a week for kicking a ball around’. These are the elite in a huge pool of people trying to do the same thing, which is highly sought after in terms of demand from a global audience.

If your top 1 percent of porn stars, top - percent of lawyers, engineers - whatever - if you’re in the elected top 1 percent of anything then you’re likely sought after and therefore paid well. Players would do it for 1k a week frankly, but if supply and demand dictates they can earn 200k then of course they will.

If they earned max 10k a week then narrative would be ‘rich owners taking all the tv money’ or such. Tv deals are huge purely because the customer is willing to pay a high price for the product. If nobody paid sky or BT then the overall deal would be worth less, the players would be paid less and so on. It’s OUR choice to pay or not and therefor technically we are what has driven these prices so high.

If you want a decent lawyer you have to pay the going rate for the market, it’s the same for footballers.

[marko69]

....it’s Basketball, Baseball, Boxing, Formula 1, Golf, NFL, and Tennis, you name it, all the sports that the public at large want to watch are all accessible thanks to TV.

And it all coincides with an astronomical rise in type 2 diabetes with fat bstds glued to their couches all weekend, eating & gambling while the a*rse falls out of the NHS. Was always going to go the same way as the USA with the 40 million channels, fast foods, and 10.5 million bucks salaries playing f**king basketball. Independence maybe, but we grabbed onto their coattails.

Nice way to present the negative for every positive eh?

[number 9]

Funny, I don’t remember reading about tofu haggis or lite Scottish ales. In fact, didn’t one of the worst mass shootings happen in Scotland? All cultures have their faults Mr Marko, but trust me I get what you’re saying. It just seems like you’ve been pointing a wee finger at the good ole USA of late hey?

Anyway cheers! I’m off to the American Scottish pub for a nice syrupy ale & deep fried haggis!

[marko69]

Who is talking about mass shootings here? And why you singling out Scotland? The NHS covers the UK. We are talking about TV and money. I was merely stating that the NHS is dealing with a FAT epidemic which they cannot cope with.... and with 24hr sports access --->> It is crippling. I have numerous family members in Scotland & England contributing nicely to the issue.

Re shootings?? EH? No doubting, we (the British: which is what you are as well essentially unless your parents are/were Native Americans; I don't know) are the craziest and greediest and murderous bastards in all of history along with the French, the Dutch and the Spanish ...., but the Dunblane guy can't be used as a playing piece for the USA to use against Scotland ffs.
Jaysus H Christ, 9 ...., there have been 600 mass shootings in the USA since May 2022. You look a like a bit of a tit bringing up mass shootings to defend the good ole US of A.

Anyway...., back to the SKY TV and huge salaries. And haggis if you want. Delicious.

[number 9]

I was just responding to what you posted, mate! So I didn’t ambush the thread like you are notorious for. I’m just playfully jousting with you. If I recall, we used to do that regularly? Not sure what’s changed you, but I hope you regain your sense of humour at some point. Anyway, back to Sky money as you say. Enjoy your haggis ffs!

[marko69]

I was just responding to what you posted, mate! So I didn’t ambush the thread like you are notorious for. I’m just playfully jousting with you. If I recall, we used to do that regularly? Not sure what’s changed you, but I hope you regain your sense of humour at some point. Anyway, back to Sky money as you say. Enjoy your haggis ffs!

Classic. I gambled......, and I won the bet. You'd respond with the "who? me?" response....., you didn't disappoint. I genuinely do not think I have ambushed this thread, (although granted; I do that A LOT....., hands up on that....., but please don't shoot me!)
TV, Sports, lack of exercise ---->> we are struggling in the NHS....., only really brought home to me just how bad it is after my son got sick.
But anyway....., must head to bed......, up early for the AFL on BTSports at my buddys house. FK that....., I'm not paying for it.

Mass shootings are a whole other topic of conversation though. We should start a thread on "Off Topic" ....., I'll ambush it with how Colonel Mustard always seems to be the killer in Cluedo......, (Thats CLUE for you)

[shabba]

A thread to prevent another thread going off topic….has now gone off topic.

[marko69]

Who the fk are you? Professor Plum?

Hashtag: Joking

[number 9]

A thread to prevent another thread going off topic….has now gone off topic.

You are my new guru!

But…one last reply to Mr Marko before he puts his pajamas on. Go back and read your comments. In the Independence Day thread you commented on people immigrating to the USA. You said something about have you read the news lately…which I’m assuming was directed to the recent shootings? Also, you mentioned something about grabbing the coattails of Americans and the obesity epidemic here? Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems clear to me.

Btw, born in USA raised in England. Mum is English, Dad is/was American. Weren’t you born in Scotland raised in Australia? I don’t understand why that’s so difficult to understand.

Night, night John Boy!

[Bluemike]

....it’s Basketball, Baseball, Boxing, Formula 1, Golf, NFL, and Tennis, you name it, all the sports that the public at large want to watch are all accessible thanks to TV.

And it all coincides with an astronomical rise in type 2 diabetes with fat bstds glued to their couches all weekend, eating & gambling while the a*rse falls out of the NHS. Was always going to go the same way as the USA with the 40 million channels, fast foods, and 10.5 million bucks salaries playing f**king basketball. Independence maybe, but we grabbed onto their coattails.

Nice way to present the negative for every positive eh?

Amen

[number 9]

....it’s Basketball, Baseball, Boxing, Formula 1, Golf, NFL, and Tennis, you name it, all the sports that the public at large want to watch are all accessible thanks to TV.

And it all coincides with an astronomical rise in type 2 diabetes with fat bstds glued to their couches all weekend, eating & gambling while the a*rse falls out of the NHS. Was always going to go the same way as the USA with the 40 million channels, fast foods, and 10.5 million bucks salaries playing f**king basketball. Independence maybe, but we grabbed onto their coattails.

Nice way to present the negative for every positive eh?

Amen

I think you all should take a look in the mirror! It’s fine blaming everyone else for our nation’s demise, but the UK and it’s history is not angelic is it? Did fish & chips contribute to unhealthy living, or was it the big American burgers & chicken wings that has brought us to our knees. Brexit that was a great idea built on ignorance & nationalism…now we’re the only major economy that has out of control inflation. The NHS!…really? How can a socialist country expect to sustain such an expensive legacy, especially now that we’ve cut the ties of collective revenue due to Brexit. I can’t say I don’t feel empathy for my beloved country, but don’t blame the USA. And yep, I’m ambushing this thread cuz I’m tired of the hypocrisy. Marko pontificating about the USA as being murderous bastards…really? Are you familiar with the imperial legacy that the UK owns? Anyway, back to Sky money. Think I’ll have some fish & chips for dinner.

Amen!

[marko69]

No. I said Britain, along with Fr, Hol & Esp historically are murderous bastards. Everyone who knows their history well knows we are far from angelic as you put it. We can’t avoid that and we can’t change that.
But hopefully 600 mass shootings since May 2022 can be changed, 9? Come on, man? Its a tad goosed don’t you think?
And hey……. YOU brought up the mass shootings, not me.

[Bluemike]

See, this is all Sky's fault

[marko69]

…. Was really just homing in on the fact that almost anything sport related can be viewed as Charnwood pointed out. And it is scarily affordable for what the product actually is.
Couple SkyTv’s offers with DFS’s never ending sofa sale ——->> the govt’s population cull

[Bluemike]

Ninja Air Fryers with built in mini TV screen on the front

[Charnwood]

Just a shame you guys have hijacked yet another thread to debate something totally irrelevant to the original post which I thought would be an interesting footie related discussion whilst not much else is going on.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Agree 100% with Charnwood - the price for Sky coverage is determined by the EPL/EFL so in no way can Sky be blamed for the inflated and ridiculous wages some players are on. I remember when Jonny Haynes became the first £100 per week player, which was an enormous sum at the time. Can't blame that one on Sky.

My Sky Sports and BT Sport packages are an absolute Godsend - allowing me to watch several football matches every week, as well as international cricket games and all F1 events - I would just never have the time to get to even 1% of the events that I watch on Sky.

[marko69]

Ninja Air Fryers with built in mini TV screen on the front

The package is complete.

Maybe a budweiser mini-fridge.

[Bluemike]

Agree 100% with Charnwood - the price for Sky coverage is determined by the EPL/EFL so in no way can Sky be blamed for the inflated and ridiculous wages some players are on. I remember when Jonny Haynes became the first £100 per week player, which was an enormous sum at the time. Can't blame that one on Sky.

My Sky Sports and BT Sport packages are an absolute Godsend - allowing me to watch several football matches every week, as well as international cricket games and all F1 events - I would just never have the time to get to even 1% of the events that I watch on Sky.

Gary, I totally get the argument both ways, you guys who rely on TV for your fix of Footy etc would be in a worse place without it for sure and while I agree the EPL/EFL call the shots with pricing it doesn't mean that has to be paid by the likes of Sky, I mean where does it end ? Its like Everton saying £10 Million for Simms, nobody has to pay that but some fool probably will.

I may well be long gone when the Sky bubble goes pop but it will happen and god forbid what the fall out could be. My biggest gripe is the dictatorial way clubs and more importantly real fans are told when the games will be played, I can recall, dozens and dozens of people I know who have had plans pissed up by Sky, hotel bookings, weekends away, train tickets etc etc just because a game suddenly gets picked for TV coverage, to some that's not an issue, to many who go home and away it's a very real problem, that's digressing a bit but the issue remains.

[Bluemike]

Just a shame you guys have hijacked yet another thread to debate something totally irrelevant to the original post which I thought would be an interesting footie related discussion whilst not much else is going on.

Yes apologies for my small part in it, no idea what mass shootings have to do with anything on a football forum.

[Dazzz67]

Guys, suggest we open up another thread to discuss domestic appliances and keep this to Sky sports as Charnwood has mentioned.

Will have to take a look at the Sky packages for future reference, left them years ago as always thought they were overpriced, a re-visit could be in order

[number 9]

Just a shame you guys have hijacked yet another thread to debate something totally irrelevant to the original post which I thought would be an interesting footie related discussion whilst not much else is going on.

Apologies. Not sure what happened, but fell down that rabbit hole.

It's a very good thread, and I like I said before I agree with your initial comments.

Peace out!

[shabba]

Agree 100% with Charnwood - the price for Sky coverage is determined by the EPL/EFL so in no way can Sky be blamed for the inflated and ridiculous wages some players are on. I remember when Jonny Haynes became the first £100 per week player, which was an enormous sum at the time. Can't blame that one on Sky.

My Sky Sports and BT Sport packages are an absolute Godsend - allowing me to watch several football matches every week, as well as international cricket games and all F1 events - I would just never have the time to get to even 1% of the events that I watch on Sky.

Gary, I totally get the argument both ways, you guys who rely on TV for your fix of Footy etc would be in a worse place without it for sure and while I agree the EPL/EFL call the shots with pricing it doesn't mean that has to be paid by the likes of Sky, I mean where does it end ? Its like Everton saying £10 Million for Simms, nobody has to pay that but some fool probably will.

I may well be long gone when the Sky bubble goes pop but it will happen and god forbid what the fall out could be. My biggest gripe is the dictatorial way clubs and more importantly real fans are told when the games will be played, I can recall, dozens and dozens of people I know who have had plans pissed up by Sky, hotel bookings, weekends away, train tickets etc etc just because a game suddenly gets picked for TV coverage, to some that's not an issue, to many who go home and away it's a very real problem, that's digressing a bit but the issue remains.

As I said before, its the consumer who drives it really, take it this way:

Public IS willing to pay a high price = sky IS willing to pay a high price for the rights from EPL = EFL will charge a high price for it.

If the public didnt pay then the business model doesnt work, sky cannot charge the prices, EFL cannot charge their price and it will reduce, again simple supply and demand.

If people are willing to pay a price for something then that determins its worth and the demand.

Side note but I'll likely ditch Xbox game pass soon, the product isn't as good as it was in terms of content and the price has gone up. If everyone does that then they will have to re-think the content/product and the price.

[Charnwood]

Agree 100% with Charnwood - the price for Sky coverage is determined by the EPL/EFL so in no way can Sky be blamed for the inflated and ridiculous wages some players are on. I remember when Jonny Haynes became the first £100 per week player, which was an enormous sum at the time. Can't blame that one on Sky.

My Sky Sports and BT Sport packages are an absolute Godsend - allowing me to watch several football matches every week, as well as international cricket games and all F1 events - I would just never have the time to get to even 1% of the events that I watch on Sky.

Gary, I totally get the argument both ways, you guys who rely on TV for your fix of Footy etc would be in a worse place without it for sure and while I agree the EPL/EFL call the shots with pricing it doesn't mean that has to be paid by the likes of Sky, I mean where does it end ? Its like Everton saying £10 Million for Simms, nobody has to pay that but some fool probably will.

I may well be long gone when the Sky bubble goes pop but it will happen and god forbid what the fall out could be. My biggest gripe is the dictatorial way clubs and more importantly real fans are told when the games will be played, I can recall, dozens and dozens of people I know who have had plans pissed up by Sky, hotel bookings, weekends away, train tickets etc etc just because a game suddenly gets picked for TV coverage, to some that's not an issue, to many who go home and away it's a very real problem, that's digressing a bit but the issue remains.

The problem Sky have is that if they decide not to pay EPL’s price one of their competitors would.

That said it looks highly likely the product soon won’t be available to any third party if the EPL launches its own TV Channel as is being predicted.

[Charnwood]

Anyway boys thanks for the apologies even though they weren’t really necessary.

I guess I was just a bit pissed off with the speed the thread went off track. I think after only the fourth post which was irritating after spending a bit of time on the original post.

Personally I’m more than happy to pay the price to have Sky TV in my home but appreciate others may not. It’s all about personal choice and of course affordability.

[shabba]

Anyway boys thanks for the apologies even though they weren’t really necessary.

I guess I was just a bit pissed off with the speed the thread went off track. I think after only the fourth post which was irritating after spending a bit of time on the original post.

Personally I’m more than happy to pay the price to have Sky TV in my home but appreciate others may not. It’s all about personal choice and of course affordability.

Keep it on topic will you

Its a tough one as I recently cancelled BT as it was all adding up and I dont sit and watch it, just like having it on in the background. I'm actually focusing alot more time on ITFC now so watch alot less EPL

I think many people now seek dodgy streams and such, i.e move away from sky/BT as the cost is high and its just added on top of the huge squeeze most people are feeling, by being hundreds of pounds a month worse off just from rises in utilities, mortgage interest and food etc.

[Charnwood]

If the EPL do launch their own TV Channel it will be interesting where they pitch the price. I assume it will be much cheaper than Sky given it will be PL Football only whereas a Sky Sports package offers multiple sports channels 24/7 every week of the year.