Online only Football is NOT the future

So, it seems that they couldn't sell on Setanta's now defunct rights to the England v Ukraine qualifier. Especially now that it is a dead rubber, what with England already having qualified. So some entrepreneurial tyke has bought up the ukrainevengland.com URL, and is flogging a live stream at £4.99 a pop. Rising to £9.99 for those subscribing on Thursday, and a whopping £11.99 on Friday and Saturday.

I should be over-excited - digital trumps telly! Hurrah! But that is just not the case. This is just not an applicable use of digital - yet. Sure, have a complimentary screening service online. Sure, allow people to watch the highlights after the match (BBC.co.uk's Championship highlights coverage is just wonderous). Sure, allow enhanced viewing experience online. But don't *exclusively* show it online.

The best case for telly I've ever heard was from Rupert Howell where he stated that the new role of television is in communal events. X-Factor, Strictly, Eurovision (ahem), Corrie, and... Live sporting events. It's true. Telly is still the best medium for showing fixed time programming.

I'll happily catch up on the latest drama or comedy show after the scheduled airing. I don't really care if I watch Jonathan Ross on a Friday night. But live sport I want to watch LIVE.

Plus, I want to watch this with others. I'm not fussy if they are my mates or just fellow fans in a pub. I just want to share in the excitement with a real human being next to me. Not hunched over my laptop. And especially not hunched over my laptop having paid twelve quid for the privilege.

Until my internet signal and telly signal are one and the same (which they inevitably will be soon), and I can seamlessly switch video from my laptop to my flatscreen, this sort of activity is a bit too ahead of its time. And that is coming from a digital type.

Still, I did enjoy hearing Rio Ferdinand regurgitate the IABs latest press release:

England defender Rio Ferdinand said he thought the broadcasting of the match marked "a good step forward" though."I read that online advertising has taken over from TV, so that tells you something about where it's going in terms of the digital world," he told BBC Sport.

Wish people would understand that you can't just pick up a way of doing things from one media and then lump it into digital and expect people to consume it in the same way. 

Most interesting little twist on all of this though is Bet365's sponsorship. Open an account, stick a tenner in it and you can watch it for free. Now *that* is clever digital thinking - encourage live interaction with a game through betting. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if this entire little venture is heavily influenced by them. If that's the case - kudos. But I still want to watch it in the pub you fuckers.

Comments

[Hobbo]

Nice one - especially the last line but who, exactly, are the fuckers?

Also, are you aware that a simple cable, exactly the one you use to plug a laptop into a projector to project your whizzy powerpoint presentations, can be used to connect your PC/laptop to your TV and enjoy a similar viewing experience to that of "normal telly" (quoting the populace there).

Now, the crucial word there was 'similar'. There are two issues.

I watched the Derren Brown 'I'm going to stick you to your sofa' show through 4OD on my TV, employing said cable (which btw cost about £30 in Comet) and the resolution was ok, but definitely lower than "normal telly" and as Derren himself warned this meant that at the end of his fancy subliminal film,I wasn't stuck to the sofa at all.

So, not wishing to cast aspersions on Mr Brown's credentials as an influencer of human baheviour, issue no.1 is screen resolution.

Issue no.2 is the speed of the average broadband connection. I tried to watch Liverpool vs Chelsea on Skyplayer yesterday, but it was repeatedly 'buffering' resulting in a massively unsatisfactory experience, due to the speed of the connection. I expect this to be a problem when saturday comes, especially because the demand is likely to be quite high as well.

In short, I agree with you, Sir Woowar, but for slightly different reasosn. The technology is simply not advanced enough in the average home for this to be a great viewing experience.

[tim palmer]

Online footy has been part of my life for a year or so, I mean, how absurd is it now a days to not show live 3pm Saturday footy games for the sake of some 25yr old broadcast law?

I watch 3pm Saturday footy live most weekends on moody internet links, but it is not without it's pain, wireless signal loss, overloaded servers etc.

England games, however, should be live on telly, and on the BBC, for free, for everyone.

But come on Nick, this will be a bit of digital history mate. And for that reason, I am watching it, on a big screen, with mates, round at a mates house.

But I don't predict a seamless broadcast, it will go tits up. In fact don't bet on the result of the game, bet that the broadcast will all go tit's up at some point, as it always does with online games.

[Tom Harvey]

Couldn't agree with you more. I don't watch football, or have any interest in it, but think it's ridiculous to make it exclusive to online AND charge you for it! What about the millions that bought sky and setanta and so on? Not to mention the many, many pubs that will lay empty whilst the game is on. Perhaps the internet cafe's should screen it and flog booze and fags to supporters.

@tom_1986

[Nicholas Gill]

I would just like to add to the many views from the post & your splendid commenters that while I'm with you on this not being the future of international sport, I'm happy that someone is doing something to bring the England matches to the fans whatever the experiential setbacks.

Something which the FA royally fucked up by believing Sultana to be a viable operator for International matches and therefore ruining International matches for some of us fans who like to stay at home and enjoy the footie with a few beers and a curry. I for one refused to pay the charlatans a single penny - why couldn't they just leave it on the Beeb or the ever so annoying ITV? And while we're at it - why can't ITV show Champions League games in HD? Oh they can? Yes, but only on some pissy obscure freeview set-top shit that no self-respecting football fan has. Watching football on ITV after the joys of Sky HD makes your eyes hurt and feel sick. Much like the England V Ukraine game on your laptop but at least we won't be sick with worry thanks to efficient Fabio.

[Ewarwoowar]

@hobbo Very much agree about the tech argument. It's the same problem that the likes of iPlayer, 4OD, Hulu (and Kangaroo - God rest its soul) have. I could buy a cable, but that is a massive hassle barrier. And then I'd be confronted by substandard streaming. The infrastructure just isn't there yet.

@tim palmer Love the dawning of dodgy streamed match content. It's great to be able to watch the Palace away games on some mildly illegal site. That's the pioneering spirit of digital that I like. But I'm happy to watch little games sneakily by myself, but for an event like an England game, I want to watch that with others. But can't be arsed to hook up wires, pay some idiots, and then suffer the glitches.

@tom_1986 Love the Internet Cafe beer idea. Pubs for the digital generation. They do seem to have adopted the Rupert Murdoch model - make the offline stuff free, and then try and charge for online. Back to front thinking.

@Nicholas Gill The problem is this daft fragmentation across lots of media owners. And the competition driving up the cost to such daft levels that they inevitably collapse. Give it all to the Beeb for free I say (ahem).

[Watch Movies]

I didn't know you can watch football live on the web! This is SO COOL! My boyfriend will love it :)

[Vincent Waitzkin]

Great post! I am a college sophomore with a dual major in Physics and Mathematics @ University of California, Santa Barbara. By the way, i came across these excellent english flashcards. Its also a great initiative by the FunnelBrain team. Amazing!!!