Post Pandemic Fixture Schedule

[roversfan99]

I thought this might make an interesting discussion, not sure if it should be merged with any current thread though.

Obviously the Premier League fixtures between now and the last day of the season are only available on TV and as a result they have been staggered so that there are never 2 games on at the same time. Gary Neville pointed out that it is like that in Spain anyway and asked whether it would be worth adopting a similar schedule full time once the pandemic is over. He did suggest to have a 3 o clock black out still to protect the lower league clubs (in which he has a vested interest in one) and they even talked about the fanciful idea of fans turning up early and staying around late in club bars to watch the live football.

The idea of constant football might seem brilliant but I personally would be staunchly against the idea personally. The idea of constant football isnt as good as it seems.

I also think it would destroy an element of tradition regarding our culture in this country surrounding the 3 o clock games, the pub prior, the scores all coming in, Match of the Day afterwards etc and it would unavoidably have an impact moving down the leagues financially on attendances.

It would also devalue the importance and interest in the football if it was literally on all the time, even more than before. 4 or 5 games a week moved for TV is possibly already a little too far but to be fair I havent complained to date but you still have at least some of the Premier League games on at 3 o clock.

The prospect of promotion would become slightly less enviable if I knew that literally every game was on at different times. 

[Mattyblue]

I must be missing something?

What would be blacked out at 3pm if every game is shown live on a separate time slot?

[MarkBRFC]

Sounds a horrible idea doesn't it?

I do think we are going down that route with the top flight though and have for a while, and the revised fixture list due to the  pandemic might accelerate it.

By the time the next TV deal comes around, I could easily see a schedule like this with a Saturday 3pm blackout applied...

Friday 8pm

Saturday 12:30pm, 5:30pm, 8pm

Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm

Monday 8pm

Like you say, it makes the thought of a promotion back there less enviable indeed, and would kill away followings for smaller top flight clubs.

4 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I must be missing something?

What would be blacked out at 3pm if every game is shown live on a separate time slot?

I think it just means that no top flight games would happen in that timeslot, so lower league attendances wouldn't be compromised.

Edited June 18, 2020 by MarkBRFC

[Mattyblue]

So not a blackout then? Just no top flight games at all at 3pm on a Saturday. Another bit of tradition sacrificed on the altar of lucre.

I like how he conflates it with the pandemic. The PL will come out of this in relatively decent shape, so this is merely just a way of keeping those PL TV deals ever increasing whilst the EFL edges closer to ruin.

What’s the old saying? “Never let a good crisis go to waste”...

Edited June 18, 2020 by Mattyblue

[roversfan99]

Yeah sorry, no Premier League games allowed on TV in the normal 3-5 timeslot.

I suspect that obviously to essentially make every game available on TV makes a lot of sense to the big cats financially but up until now it was un-doable. The unprecedented impact of the pandemic might actually create precedent to adopt such a Premier League schedule, with negative consequences.

[Stuart]

It would be complete over-saturation in my view.

The only change I’d want (selfishly) would be being able to watch away games for Rovers. You would think the genie is out of the bottle now. Every game will probably be available for £10 per match and 3pm would no longer be sacrosanct. Too expensive in my view. The going rate for streaming is £6-£10 per month - unless one views football like PPV boxing.

But the spectacle of professional football really is being there live in the ground. It’s a bug, a social habit, with genuine elation and joy, and stress and misery, shared with people from your town/city. There is nothing like it.

Fans aren’t background noise as Sky would have you believe, they are the heartbeat of a football ground.

[roversfan99]

45 minutes ago, Stuart said:

It would be complete over-saturation in my view.

The only change I’d want (selfishly) would be being able to watch away games for Rovers. You would think the genie is out of the bottle now. Every game will probably be available for £10 per match and 3pm would no longer be sacrosanct. Too expensive in my view. The going rate for streaming is £6-£10 per month - unless one views football like PPV boxing.

But the spectacle of professional football really is being there live in the ground. It’s a bug, a social habit, with genuine elation and joy, and stress and misery, shared with people from your town/city. There is nothing like it.

Fans aren’t background noise as Sky would have you believe, they are the heartbeat of a football ground.

I dont think Sky or any broadcaster does see fans quite as unimportant as background noise as you put it, theres a constant acknowledgement that it isnt the same even from commentators and pundits. I feel thats a bit of a stretch, but of course money rules the roost, and if the demand is there, it will always be something they will push and push and feel justified in doing so. I dont know whether they will push for that, the Premier League is already all over the place in terms of schedule but having at least half of the games on a Saturday at 3pm at least gives it some structure and I am unsure whether it is naivety or an excuse (or both) as to Neville justifying a La Liga style schedule by implying that the 3pm blackout would solve the potential knock on effect for lower clubs.

I do agree totally with your comments about what football means and also that it would be over-saturation. if you have too much of something the importance can fade.

[Ossydave]

Its staggered in quite a few countries like Spain as you point out. Not a fan of it to be honest it just lends itself to armchair fans more than anything else.

[Herbie6590]

I thought Sky revealed their hand during last night’s commentary. It will happen at some point but it will be fascinating to see how they charge for this access - greater emphasis on particular clubs or as now, access to all games. If they raise monthly subs people will vote with their wallets at some point - we are going to be in a hell of a recession for a while & people’s priorities will undoubtedly change. 
Some times less is more, a rarity value makes something more attractive. 
watching a World Cup or Euros intensely for a month is one thing, but week in, week out saturated wall to wall coverage ? Not sure myself...

[Mattyblue]

18 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

 

What’s the old saying? “Never let a good crisis go to waste”...

As I said.
 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Darrenbot]

No top 7 maybe Newcastle or Spurs will finally win something or even worse Burnley could.

[chaddyrovers]

Or scrap the EFL cup for 1 season. 

[Stuart]

Or have a more competitive cup competition for 1 season.

Also, do not allow those clubs to put their U23 teams in it and devalue yet another cup.

Clubs playing in Europe don’t value the league cup anyway. The only thing they do is bring in crowds at L2 grounds or provide a memorable away day if the stars align.

How about we get back to L2 teams having more self respect and fighting to get to the later rounds rather than the self-pity of having the bingo number come up - literally and figuratively.

[Blue blood]

On 18/06/2020 at 18:00, Ossydave said:

Its staggered in quite a few countries like Spain as you point out. Not a fan of it to be honest it just lends itself to armchair fans more than anything else.

And that could be the end of football as we know it, certainly for lower leagues, possibly for the premiership. 

Stopping going, seeing family and friends there etc., tradition and ritual is a much harder habit to break than turning off a laptop/TV. 

Geography is less of a concern for following a club. I use my time up in Carlisle all the time but even though the kids I worked with supported other clubs if they wanted live football, going to a Carlisle game was a prominent option - either you had to have sky or be taken to the pub as alternative viable options. However a subscription to watch at home at a cheaper price is a way more attractive option. You can see how that's going to go. 

It takes up less time, and requires less physical activity having a home subscription. In this day and age that's pretty attractive for culture. 

It really could kill the game. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Blue blood

[Stuart]

Select matches to watch on a game by game basis. No tax for deciding to watch last minute.

Beer while watching the match - at supermarket prices. Pie for a reasonable price that doesn’t melt the flesh on the roof of your mouth.

No drive, no parking or fuel/parking charges.

House parties with your mates/family - only one person needs to buy a code.

But the...

Revenues drop. Quality of players diminishes.

No atmosphere, no excitement, no apprehension.

No banter with those folks you see every week but don’t know where half of them live, no friendly nod and hello to those others that you don’t even know the names of some of them but will celebrate joyously with anyway!

No camaraderie, no support, no commitment to your local club. No your club - not properly yours.

No club as a birthright, no matter how convincing mum or dad are. United, City and Liverpool on tap for the future “I just like football” fan.

No “club”.

It doesn’t matter what canned-fandom they impose on us in Dolby digital surround sound (as ghosts-of-matches-past), football needs live fans in the ground as much as fans need live football. The drama, the spectacle are far more real when you are ringside.

There’s a reason Tyler’s battle cry is “And it’s live”, it the sound nature of (faux) leather on (faux) leather, the ‘catching’ noise that only a goal net can make, the roar and applause and  tribal chanting of the partisan crowd. If it’s on TV, especially with a 5 minute delay, it’s not live.

This is something we need to get through and hope to come out of the other side of.

[Mattyblue]

I’m sure Tyler has only started with that this last few years, maybe as he got older he wanted a trademark to remember him by, like Michael Buffer...

[Roverthechimp]

Have already lost a lot of interest in football and golf through oversaturation but do wonder if it is a gernerational thing with me being amongst the last of the "traditionalists"...

Also dislike the whole "getting closer to the players" - i want Sporting Gods not someone who is good to his granny and cares about the endangered lesser spotted chaffinch ?

[RoverDom]

I voted for the wrong one cos sausage fingers. 

I dont think constant football is worth it, was it boxing day where they had 4 back to back games? We were so tired of it by the end of it. Its special when its world cup or euros but beyond that, no thanks. 

 

I'd scrap the Friday and Monday night fixtures. Leave saturday early and late and then either 1 or 2 on sunday. Have 6 or 7 games in the 3pm slot. The 3pm slot has been ruined IMO. Bit of nostalgia but I miss checking ceefax every 5mins from 3pm and then switching on final score at half 4. It's not the same when it's a handful of mid table 0-0 games. I barely even register that premiership games take place at 3pm. 

[chaddyrovers]

Football games on back to back is so fans get to watch as much games as their want and fans can pick and chose their games they want to watch. 

Also this is short term measure until we can get back to some normality and resume watching games in Stadiums. 

[K-Hod]

8 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Football games on back to back is so fans get to watch as much games as their want and fans can pick and chose their games they want to watch. 

Also this is short term measure until we can get back to some normality and resume watching games in Stadiums. 

Yeah mate, that’s a given, but, the question was- should it continue? 
Do you think it should?

[rigger]

13 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Yeah mate, that’s a given, but, the question was- should it continue? 
Do you think it should?

It is amazing the different interpretations of an answer, if you don’t read the question!

[MarkBRFC]

46 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Football games on back to back is so fans get to watch as much games as their want and fans can pick and chose their games they want to watch. 

Also this is short term measure until we can get back to some normality and resume watching games in Stadiums. 

I think this will be very much the norm when the next TV deal comes out.

[chaddyrovers]

31 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Yeah mate, that’s a given, but, the question was- should it continue? 
Do you think it should?

No I dont. Most games should be 3pm. Championship live tv games should be Friday night 7.45pm and Saturday 12.15pm. Premiership TV games should have around 5 live games a week. 2 Saturday tv games at 12.45pm and 5.30pm. 2 Sunday tv games at 2pm and 4.30pm then Monday Night at 8pm. 

Pretty much keep it the same as before the Coronavirus hit the UK. 

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, MarkBRFC said:

I think this will be very much the norm when the next TV deal comes out.

Clubs will want fans back in stadium as soon as they can otherwise these stadiums goes to waste by having no fans in them

[MarkBRFC]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Clubs will want fans back in stadium as soon as they can otherwise these stadiums goes to waste by having no fans in them

Yeah, but Sky and TV dictate when a game is played.

Plus to the top clubs, who all this is geared towards, it won't make any difference on there attendances whether the game is Saturday 3pm, Sunday at 7pm or Tuesday at 6pm.

When the next TV deal comes around in 2022, I'd be amazed if there are any top flight games left at 3pm on a Saturday.