It’s on the back of the net for England
Football fans are a passionate bunch at the best of times and when it comes to the national team, that’s something you really don’t mess with. What I am I talking about? Why is there yet another football post on my social media PR blog? We’ll, if you’re an England fan you’re probably aware by no that you won’t be able to see the England Vs Ukraine World Cup qualifier on TV, instead it’s being streamed live at www.ukrainevengland.com
Now, it may surprise some that I am not going to defend this move, because I actually think it’s bad for everyone. Here is my argument:
Why it’s bad for the fans - Football is a game of the people and when I say that, I mean everyone. Me, my kids, my parents, my grandparents and so on. Everyone should have the right to watch their national side play, but we all know that just isn’t the case in England. If you want to watch England in action, you’ll be able to catch some games on free-to-air channels, but you also have to pay either Sky and until recently the spectacularly useless Setanta.
So, we already have a situation where not everyone can see the national side play and now we’re about to exclude more people – can you honestly tell me your grandparents are going to watch a games streamed live over the web? But, Andrew Croker, executive chairman of Perform who are streaming the game gave this quote to the BBC for its article, ”I think consumers are pretty sophisticated now, particularly in the UK, where we have been in the vanguard of adopting new technology.” So, unless you happen to be at the vanguard of technology, we don’t care…
Why it’s bad for football – I have already tried the online streaming service offered by Sky and it was bloody painful. I’m sure it’s improved in the time since I last tried it, but why on earth am I going to bother when I can watch the game in glorious HD on Sky Sports? The experience I get from Sky is second to none, these guys really do know how to serve up some top-notch sports coverage, but the net experience pales in comparison. I guess what I am saying is all that this is going to do is put people off watching football on the web, we should be adding to the experience. By going ahead with this, we’re probably putting the public appetite for sports streaming back a few years.
Final thoughts – the web isn’t about holding you to ransom, it’s about connecting you with who or what you’re looking for when you want it. From a PR perspective, we should be using online tools to enhance the football experience whilst also expanding our audience.
