The end of Saturday 3p Kickoffs in the EPL???

[Guest LondonScottish]

The 3pm Saturday kickoff could very well be a thing of the past as reaching a global audience becomes more lucrative. The EPL is now the World's moat popular season-long sporting event with growing fan bases particularly in Africa and Asia. Financial exports Deloitte are set to publish a new study that it is the richest league in Europe and the most watched abroad, reaching 600 million homes. They also believe that, if current growth continues, the revenue from overseas broadcast rights will soon exceed those paid for the domestic rights. It's estimated that a global audience of 1 billion watched Arsenal play Manchester Utd which kicked off at 12.45. The early start suited the TV networks in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.Between now and Christmas, Arsenal and Liverpool will play only one match at 3pm on a Saturday, while Chelsea and Man Utd only have two games at the traditional time.

Deloitte said that the EPL has accelerated away from every other league in the World. Global rights are currently worth

[TheChimp]

***k those whores. As long as the SPL doesn't go the same way then I will happily watch the English game die.

[vanderark14]

The 3pm Saturday kickoff could very well be a thing of the past as reaching a global audience becomes more lucrative. The EPL is now the World's moat popular season-long sporting event with growing fan bases particularly in Africa and Asia. Financial exports Deloitte are set to publish a new study that it is the richest league in Europe and the most watched abroad, reaching 600 million homes. They also believe that, if current growth continues, the revenue from overseas broadcast rights will soon exceed those paid for the domestic rights. It's estimated that a global audience of 1 billion watched Arsenal play Manchester Utd which kicked off at 12.45. The early start suited the TV networks in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.Between now and Christmas, Arsenal and Liverpool will play only one match at 3pm on a Saturday, while Chelsea and Man Utd only have two games at the traditional time.

Deloitte said that the EPL has accelerated away from every other league in the World. Global rights are currently worth

[Shetland Lamb]

Old news.

 

Since when was EPL used instead of Premiership?

[Guest LondonScottish]

Old news.

 

Since when was EPL used instead of Premiership?

 

 

Today, 03:38 PM

 

 

And if its old news, those viewing figures, revenue figures or projections have only just been released.

 

Have they even got Sky in Shetland??

[Penfold-]

"Old news" in that it's been happening for a while now, but seems to be getting progressively worse this season.

 

And personally I don't think the kick of times are to cater for foreign channels, it's to suit the UK schedules. A 12:45 kick off may very well suit China etc. but US channels would much prefer the 5:15 or evening kickoffs.

[dave_min]

"Old news" in that it's been happening for a while now, but seems to be getting progressively worse this season.

 

And personally I don't think the kick of times are to cater for foreign channels, it's to suit the UK schedules. A 12:45 kick off may very well suit China etc. but US channels would much prefer the 5:15 or evening kickoffs.

 

Exactly, if the game kicked off at 1pm it wouldn't make any difference in China, but Joe Average in the boozer somewhere in england then only has 15 mins to get from the pub to the ground for his home team's game, then he's got half an hour to get back after it for his next game of the day.

 

English football's pretty boring anyway

[K-9]

The more these English clubs get watched around the globes at silly times the more money these English clubs get and they will undoubtedly take the view that the millions they are getting from TV rights far outweigh the pennies they will lose from their fans not being able to attend. Likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal wont lose anything anyway as are constantly selling out their grounds.

 

Clubs will then keep upping their spending and only thing that will stop this ccle is folk stopping paying huge subscriptions to the likes of Sky and Setanta but lets face it they wont stop paying.

[Dynamo]

What a heap of sh*te.

 

The more traditional supporters from England will be driven away from games. It won't be the death of it though. Tourists and family day trippers will take their seats and they'll happily fork out

[BTR]

Supply and demand I guess. Got to give the people what they want.

 

I have to say when I was in Malaysia last year I was loving being able to tune in.

 

More to the point at every ad break there were adverts offering packages with Malaysia Airlines for flights + one night in hotel + EPL match ticket for the bargain price of

[The Oxford Don]

The only thing surprising me here is the fact that so many of you are surprised! Surely this has been on the cards for a while?

 

The 3pm kick-off slot is a relic of more industrial times, when people worked a Saturday morning in the factory or the pit, or wherever. They would finish at midday and the 3pm game meant that they could either go home and get changed before heading to the ground, or (more likely!) go out and have a few pints and then head to the ground.

 

Suffice to say that those days are long gone, and football's core audience is no longer working men in flat caps, rather global 'consumers' who increasingly have the ability to dictate start times of matches. Yes, I deplore this situation as well and pity the poor, ordinary English football fans whose schedules have been ***ked around so that they have to watch games at weird times just to accomodate Tomo and Yoshimi, half a planet away, who want to watch Wayyyyyen Llloooney and co at a sensible time before it gets dark, and have the dollars to dictate to the clubs when they play their games. And has anyone stopped to consider the impact all this is having on domestic football in Singapore, Japan, China etc...?

 

Money - huh! What is it good for, absolutely nothing!

[baldrick_sheep]

Why dont they just let them play at 3pm on a saturday to keep the Fans who go to games happy, and show them live in these countries, or is it a time difference thing?

[ninja-lewis]

Since when was EPL used instead of Premiership?

Renamed to Barclays Premier League this season.

[BTR]

Well it's kind of the same situation as when the World Cup was in America and then Japan/Korea, fixture schedules were moved as far as reasonably practical to accommodate European fans.

 

If there's a global market for it, they're as well cashing in on it. It's a good export business you could say.

[glasgow sheep]

Old news.

 

Since when was EPL used instead of Premiership?

ages

why is everything in Scotland prefaced Scottish but in England it is just THE FA, THE RFU, THE Premiership

Arrogant ***k wits. Oh and what was wrong with Premier Division up here instead of some crappy acronym?

[paulkaneatemyhamster]

ages

why is everything in Scotland prefaced Scottish but in England it is just THE FA, THE RFU, THE Premiership

Arrogant ***k wits. Oh and what was wrong with Premier Division up here instead of some crappy acronym?

 

 

not sure about the others but it's called the FA as it is the oldest and original football association , everyone else came afterwards

[BTR]

original football association , everyone else came afterwards

 

indeed.

 

The FA was world football's governing body until FIFA came along. England refused to play in the first three World Cups because of it (as did the other home nations). The legacy of which is that the FA, the SFA, the FAW and the FAI all have permanent seats on the board (and I think there are only another four) at FIFA and still wield alot of power.

 

There you go, uninteresting fact of the day.

[ninja-lewis]

not sure about the others but it's called the FA as it is the oldest and original football association , everyone else came afterwards

Same situation with the RFU. I believe the Premiership was originally known as the FA Premier League.

[glasgow sheep]

Same situation with the RFU. I believe the Premiership was originally known as the FA Premier League.

Division 1

[Guest TenementFunster]

Division 1

 

That would be when it was part of the English Football League.

[swaddon]

In ten years, big games will be played in Asia (like the NFL did at Wembley recently, sorry, the USNFL) and Saturday 3pm kick offs will be a thing of the past. English audiences are becoming disillusioned with the EPL, but the Asians think it's the best thing since sliced bread, so they'll be catering more for them.

[tlg1903]

In ten years, big games will be played in Asia (like the NFL did at Wembley recently, sorry, the USNFL) and Saturday 3pm kick offs will be a thing of the past. English audiences are becoming disillusioned with the EPL, but the Asians think it's the best thing since sliced bread, so they'll be catering more for them.

I can see it happening. Its like all things capatalist though, eventually greed consumes and all that is left is the outer shell. Wonder which team will be the firts to re-locate their "franchise" to another country

[K-9]

I can see it happening. Its like all things capatalist though, eventually greed consumes and all that is left is the outer shell. Wonder which team will be the firts to re-locate their "franchise" to another country

Me neither. The fans just wouldn't let it. Fans of rival clubs would even join together in protest!!

[swaddon]

I can see it happening. Its like all things capatalist though, eventually greed consumes and all that is left is the outer shell. Wonder which team will be the firts to re-locate their "franchise" to another country

Crystal Palace have a team in the USA, as do Mexican side Chivas. Not the same as relocating, I know, but there's potential for the bigger clubs to set up teams like Arsenal USA or Chelsea Moscow or something.