Infinite Path

The next England match, to be played on Saturday 10th October, is only going to be available online in a first for UK football.

The match would have been broadcast on Setanta, had it not gone bust early in 2009. Because this was no longer an option, the broadcasting rights were put to tender and none of the major TV companies were willing to pay. The BBC and ITV both decided that their normal Saturday schedule was more valuable to them and therefore didn’t bid for the England game. BSKYB also worked out that it would not be worth their while to bid for the coverage, so therefore, a media company, based in London, have decided to take the risk and buy the rights to sell the match online.

For between £5 and £12 anyone can pay to view the match live. The company behind the venture are limiting the number of viewers who can purchase to one million. They feel that any more than that could lead to the streaming becoming overloaded and therefore pictures will slow down and not load properly.

The match is of little importance in the grand scheme of things as England are through to the World Cup finals regardless of the outcome, so it is assumed that many would not watch the match even it was to be aired on television. The fact that people have to pay for the privilege online further increases the doubt that many will tune in.

No matter how many viewers actually pay to watch the match, this development is definitely a big step in how football, sport or any other event traditionally seen on TV, could be now viewed in the future. TV ad revenue is down for the commercial broadcasters, and the reach a TV company has now is far lower than in previous years. The internet could prove to be the platform for worldwide reach at a lower cost. However, there is still the big issue of broadband speed, and how to make the process commercially viable.