The sad state of live streaming and broadcasting in football
On Monday, English newspaper The Guardian broke out an important story: the English Premier League dropped its lawsuit against YouTube for unauthorized video postings. It’s a big deal but what should follow will be sad.
The Guardian predicts that the EPL will soon refocus its fight against live streaming sites, already having won a case to force six Internet service providers to block them.
This puts the spotlight on an important problem: football leagues are not taking advantage of a great opportunity. Local channels do not offer enough games on their networks. Both channels and leagues are often afraid of streams. They see them as a threat to their traditional revenue model of selling rights and showing some games on the air.
All entities are on the wrong side of the equation. Millions of fans watch games on illegal live streams either because they cannot afford/justify to spend 50 dollars or 40 euros a month just to get the option of an incomplete offer, or because there is a lack of offer in terms of legal streaming.
Let’s review Canada’s example. I know it better because this is where I live.
You have to pay for basic TV services first, and then add GOL TV in order to get some Bundesliga games. A couple of years ago, it was impossible to get a Bayern game every week. At the moment, a Dortmund fan will miss about half the games. You may shell out at least 60 dollars per month without seeing everything you want. The waste of money makes no sense for the consumer. Champions League, DFB Pokal and international competitions are not even covered. We haven’t mentioned the disappearance of the Spanish league games for those who are into that.
Outside of the Bundesliga, Rogers offers a full package of high-quality streaming at 23 dollars per month. You get every Champions League as well as Europa League match live and on-demand replay, along with DFB Pokal, EPL, FA Cup and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
During the last Euro tournament, a full-tournament access package of that kind was popular, even with people who already had the competition’s broadcasters in their TV services.
Why isn’t every league available like that? I know many fans who love that Rogers package. The price is right for extensive coverage in high quality video. Millions of people around the world would be happy to use their credit cards for this kind of service.
If football leagues successfully force your Internet service provider to block live streams, they should get their act together. It’s time for sport to catch up with technology, to reach to everyone with paid services. Interest-based content is not going away. People are ready to pay for live sports. It also is clear that without a legal offer, someone will find a way to go around blocks targeting specific sites. It has been done with ATDHE’s domain name blocking by the federal government in the United States.
Go ahead, football leagues. Surprise us with a good offer and you’ll be surprised to see how much money you will pocket.
