Premier League Coverage PPV and beyond

The almost total condemnation across fan groups and the press of this move has I believe hit the clubs hard, I seriously think there'll be a reconsider if not of the move to PPV but the price charged.

Issues of stream piracy and illegal groups meeting in homes to watch being raised as well.

This isn't quite 'done and dusted' yet.

The cynic in me wonders if they've announced high price to make a later announcement of around a tenner look more reasonable, although all reports seem to suggest the PL clubs thought fans would welcome this with open arms and are completely shocked by the backlash.

I think the PL have been oblivious to how different their relationship is to fans compared to the lower leagues and how much more willing fans are to dig in their pocket for teams relying on matchday income compared to those who get the bulk from TV rights.


Obviously it is all a bit of a back of a fag packet calculation considering the market is somewhat untested but the feeling is money earned from this would be negligible compared to the other earnings from broadcast rights - possibly around £100m across a league where a £0.1billion difference in broadcast rights would barely be noticed.

But the premier league must realise that they have a responsibility to those clubs (and not just in football but sport more generally) who rely on match day income and that reducing the price would cause issues for such clubs. Clubs elsewhere need to be able to charge a reasonable amount for PPV coverage in order to survive and the premier league reducing the price would largely make this impossible.

Premier League urged to scrap its PPV plan as fans piling into pubs could cause coronavirus spike

Pubs and clubs would be exempt from the £14.95 fee for games not previously selected by broadcasters for October and the start of November.

The Premier League is under pressure to scrap its £15-a-game pay-per-view plan amid warnings it could compound the spike in coronavirus cases by driving fans into pubs.

The revolt against the decision to charge supporters to watch matches it had previously given away intensified on Saturday after it emerged pubs and clubs would be exempt from the £14.95 fee for games not previously selected by Sky Sports and BT Sport for the rest of this month and start of next.

The combination of what has been branded an excessive charge for those who ordinarily would stay at home to watch matches with the on-going giveaway to pubs and clubs was criticised by a leading public health expert and a member of Parliament’s digital, culture, media and sport select committee.

Prof Gabriel Scally, a key member of the Independent Sage group which holds the Government’s scientific advisory group to account, told Telegraph Sport: “It would be a very bad substitute to have fans gathering indoors.

“It does certainly appear to be a situation that would encourage fans to put themselves potentially at risk. We do know that a significant proportion of transmission is associated with the hospitality industry and pubs in particular.”

Steve Brine, the Conservative MP and member of the select committee, said: “These are the worst of times and the Premier League has done much to lift spirits but this is not their finest hour. It will encourage people to gather together and that’s just not the spirit of right now in my opinion.”

So making about £600k a match (minus costs) which is not to be sniffed at I suppose. I think any review would only likely end up lowering the price.