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“Is the match on the laptop tonight?”
There has been fierce debate in countries such as the UK and Australia over which sporting
fixtures should be “national heritage” events that must remain free to view for everyone on
terrestrial TV. However, the debate is no longer only just about free TV versus pay TV. Now that
Internet streaming is a reality, will it become the medium of choice by the viewing public?
Chris Hootton explores the future for sports viewing.
Did you bother to watch Ukraine versus
England online? No, me neither.
The reaction to the broadcast of that
England international via the internet
has been near hysterical, with many
people enraged and pundits chastising
broadcasters for making money out of
a national event. This has led again to a
sudden spate of patriotism demanding the
free coverage of international fixtures.
Much ire has been directed at Setanta
over the past year (note the “We hate
Setanta” chants in the Andorra v England
game in September 2008) and even now
when they have gone bust they are still
to blame for all failings in the Ukraine
game.
By and large, the actual coverage of
the match passed glitch free and will
encourage media outlets to consider
internet streams as viable going forward.
However, indignation regarding the
politics surrounding the chain of events
is apparent.
For those who argue that it is sacrilege
for international games not to be shown
on free to view television, think back
ten to 15 years when the home games
were shown but away games were only
available through the medium of radio.
Furthermore, when was the last time
all home nation’s games were freely
available? In fact, in most countries there
is already a huge number of subscribers
for the sports channels of the satellite and
cable broadcasters because many sports
and events are just not available on free
TV. So will watching sport on the internet
become the norm?
‘Not everyone has access to the game
on the internet!’ I hear some argue.
If you look deeper, there are roughly
only 9.4 million people possessing a
Sky subscription in the UK which is
vastly outweighed by the 18.3 million
households with Internet access
according to government statistics this
year, this represents 70% of the UK who
potentially had access to the game.
So, a one off charge of around £10 seems
good value when you weigh up a yearly
Sky Sports subscription in excess of £300.
However, perhaps the biggest hurdle
facing web broadcasters is the reluctance
of the public to buy into the box office
culture as the Americans do for example.
Many refuse to cough up for yet another
subscription on top of the BBC television
licence, a Sky football package, a Virgin
Media subscription or the top-up ESPN
football coverage.
Some websites offered the stream to
viewers for free for signing to their service
such as Bet365 or the numerous
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