Graham Waller wrote:
I have always, and will always refuse to pay Skiy one dime for any of the dross they put out.
I hope they get the rights to the Champions League tbh, utter shite at prime time Wednesday evening viewing for those who don't give a rat's ar$e about Trafford United's latest game, which is surprising really as I don't live anywhere near Manchester.
Sports should be on sports channels, the majority of which should be free-view. Sponsorship pays for it, the TV doesn't need to.
Hi Graham,
I'm with you as a Sky holdout - I take a dim view of the disastrous effect Sky/premiership has had on football.
Where we differ is on ghetto-ising sport to a sports channel. The power of sport to inspire and unite the country relies on it being a shared experience. That can't happen unless main events are free-to-view, so I'm with you there too.
On the economics of it, sponsorship is an important slice of income for many sports, but dwarfed by broadcasting rights. And don't forget that sponsors of the big clubs are paying largely for national exposure via TV, rather than following any local, community-based agenda which would justify sponsorship in lower leagues. Where this all goes wrong is when broadcast rights income outweigh income from fans themselves, whose needs and traditions are overlooked in favour of keeping broadcasters happy (don't get me started on what's happened to the FA Cup).
Cheers
Adrian