iFollow

[eltorrro]

Just been reading the EFL blurb on screening rights.

Am I reading it correctly that iFollow ceases to be after this season and we can only watch specific/selected live games via SkySports?

If anyone can supply concrete info that would be appreciated

[Mr Dee]

There is nothing concrete. But unfortunately sky are the preferred bidder. Although I don't think it would start until the '24/ '25 season

[Pompey55]

Having read through the full statement and Q&A blurb ifollow will effectively cease to exist from 2024/5 when the new Sky deal comes into play
Personally my view is that this deal primarily benefits armchair fans as each club in league one will have16 games broadcast so changed times and days and should we get promoted it will be 23 moved games per season so fans who attend matches will have their normal match day experience wrecked look forward to 1230 starts and midweek games for a third of our games or half in the championship
Also currently money is split 70/18/12 but new deal is 80/12/8 so by my simple maths we get 50% more cash but a 50% drop in our share in league one surely that means only the championship really benefit
This deal in my opinion stinks if you are a supporter who attends live games

[eltorrro]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

[Pompey1984+1]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

[Pompey55]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

That doesn’t mean that they have given sufficient thought to the effect it will have on many fans this deal is in my view solely for the benefit of the armchair viewers
It s***s on fans who regularly attend matches home and away with so many potential time and day changes and as has been noted those who cannot attend but rely on ifollow
And with the revised allocation of monies does not do a great deal for clubs as it will certainly have a detrimental affect on gates for example would we have taken 3000 to Derby on wet Tuesday night I doubt it

[Sam_Brown]

They don’t give a ****** about the fans that go to the games.

[eltorrro]

They don’t give a ****** about the fans that go to the games.

They clearly don't give two hoots for their overseas fans. I think this might be the death knell for me where football is concerned. After all, I can't see the point in supporting a team which I'm unable to watch play their matches, or at least the majority of. How many times will Pompey be screened by Sky in a season? Probably not more than 10 out of 50+; apart from the astronomical cost for viewing SkySports (which in any case I am unable to receive in southern Spain!!) I will subscribe to iFollow for next season then won't bother after that if nothing else is available.

[Pompey1984+1]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

That doesn’t mean that they have given sufficient thought to the effect it will have on many fans this deal is in my view solely for the benefit of the armchair viewers
It s***s on fans who regularly attend matches home and away with so many potential time and day changes and as has been noted those who cannot attend but rely on ifollow
And with the revised allocation of monies does not do a great deal for clubs as it will certainly have a detrimental affect on gates for example would we have taken 3000 to Derby on wet Tuesday night I doubt it

No we wouldn't have taken 3000 to derby on a Tuesday night, nor a normal Saturday game either.

Given that sky don't have the champions league I'd have thought that a lot of the current midweek games will be the games that are shown anyway. All midweek championship games are already on the red button.

[Pompey1984+1]

They don’t give a ****** about the fans that go to the games.

They clearly don't give two hoots for their overseas fans. I think this might be the death knell for me where football is concerned. After all, I can't see the point in supporting a team which I'm unable to watch play their matches, or at least the majority of. How many times will Pompey be screened by Sky in a season? Probably not more than 10 out of 50+; apart from the astronomical cost for viewing SkySports (which in any case I am unable to receive in southern Spain!!) I will subscribe to iFollow for next season then won't bother after that if nothing else is available.

You do realise you have had more access to Pompey games than people living in the UK who can't get to games for the I Follow years? It's not just show on TV either it includes via their streaming services.

And infact you still are....

Will matches still be available to watch via iFollow, or Clubs’ alternative streaming services?

From the 2024/25 season onward, this new deal with Sky Sports will effectively replace the EFL’s domestic video streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services
Audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences.
Does the loss of domestic streaming mean clubs will be financially better off or worse off with this new deal?

Given the significant uplift in rights values across the duration of the deal, EFL clubs as a collective will be significantly better off than if they maintained the current combined arrangement of linear broadcasting and individual club streaming.

[Pompey55]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

That doesn’t mean that they have given sufficient thought to the effect it will have on many fans this deal is in my view solely for the benefit of the armchair viewers
It s***s on fans who regularly attend matches home and away with so many potential time and day changes and as has been noted those who cannot attend but rely on ifollow
And with the revised allocation of monies does not do a great deal for clubs as it will certainly have a detrimental affect on gates for example would we have taken 3000 to Derby on wet Tuesday night I doubt it

No we wouldn't have taken 3000 to derby on a Tuesday night, nor a normal Saturday game either.

Given that sky don't have the champions league I'd have thought that a lot of the current midweek games will be the games that are shown anyway. All midweek championship games are already on the red button.

First I totally disagree with you we would have taken the full allocation at Derby on any Saturday this season as we have at most Saturday away games this season and we are not talking about midweek games but the affect on Saturday games
On any given week we could either have a 1230 kickoff or a match moved from Saturday for 16 games in league one or 23 in the championship plus opening and closing games plus bank holiday games will never be a 3.00 kickoff as all games will be live but have to adhere to section 48 rules
Therefore if it was next season we would possibly have away games starting at 1230 on a Saturday so for example for Derby that would mean coaches leaving here at 0630 or Shrewsbury a 0500 start or an away match on a midweek which due to school would stop my granddaughter going
Maybe I’m looking at it from my own point of view this could restrict our access to away games
It’s interesting that one telling comment in the blurb is “supporters want more broadcast content” I think that says it all its for the benefit of armchair viewers not real supporters who actually would rather attend a game why would I want more broadcast content when I can watch the game live in a stadium unless the game is moved to accommodate broadcast content
Maybe you welcome sitting at home watching Sky but we would rather watch a game where it’s being played

[Pompey1984+1]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

That doesn’t mean that they have given sufficient thought to the effect it will have on many fans this deal is in my view solely for the benefit of the armchair viewers
It s***s on fans who regularly attend matches home and away with so many potential time and day changes and as has been noted those who cannot attend but rely on ifollow
And with the revised allocation of monies does not do a great deal for clubs as it will certainly have a detrimental affect on gates for example would we have taken 3000 to Derby on wet Tuesday night I doubt it

No we wouldn't have taken 3000 to derby on a Tuesday night, nor a normal Saturday game either.

Given that sky don't have the champions league I'd have thought that a lot of the current midweek games will be the games that are shown anyway. All midweek championship games are already on the red button.

First I totally disagree with you we would have taken the full allocation at Derby on any Saturday this season as we have at most Saturday away games this season and we are not talking about midweek games but the affect on Saturday games
On any given week we could either have a 1230 kickoff or a match moved from Saturday for 16 games in league one or 23 in the championship plus opening and closing games plus bank holiday games will never be a 3.00 kickoff as all games will be live but have to adhere to section 48 rules
Therefore if it was next season we would possibly have away games starting at 1230 on a Saturday so for example for Derby that would mean coaches leaving here at 0630 or Shrewsbury a 0500 start or an away match on a midweek which due to school would stop my granddaughter going
Maybe I’m looking at it from my own point of view this could restrict our access to away games
It’s interesting that one telling comment in the blurb is “supporters want more broadcast content” I think that says it all its for the benefit of armchair viewers not real supporters who actually would rather attend a game why would I want more broadcast content when I can watch the game live in a stadium unless the game is moved to accommodate broadcast content
Maybe you welcome sitting at home watching Sky but we would rather watch a game where it’s being played

I'd rather by at the game, but when you live 5 hours away from Fratton Park that's not possible on a regular basis - still people that don't live within pissing distance of Fratton aren't real fans.

You want the club to spend more money, so it agrees a deal to bring in more money. You can't have your cake and eat it.

[Sam_Brown]

I live three hours away. I try and get to as many games as I can but it’s just not practical.

The idea either eltorro or myself are not “real fans” isn’t fair. Just as it wouldn’t be fair for me to criticise the Fratton faithful for not attending any away games I can easily get to.

If the cobblers get promoted this season it’s a 5 minute walk for me. I’m not going to chastise the fan base if we don’t sell our allotment because I appreciate other people have commitments that makes it prohibitively difficult for them to attend.

The only home game I got to this year was against Stevenage in the cup and the stadium was virtually empty! Again I’m not going to criticise those on the board who decided not too attend. I went to a cup game many years ago against Coventry when we’d had heavy snow. Again was virtually empty but I’m not going to suggest those who didn’t want to risk the snow aren’t “real fans”.

[Pompey1984+1]

Also, let's not forget that 15:00 isn't a traditional kick off time everywhere. Mining areas used to kick off later, after shift end.

[Pompey55]

Plus, us ex-pats can no longer view every Pompey match..only those that Sky deem to screen.

So thanks EFL for ruining thousands of fans (not just Pompey) enjoyment purely for your greed and that of Sky!!

The club's unanimously voted in favour of it.

That doesn’t mean that they have given sufficient thought to the effect it will have on many fans this deal is in my view solely for the benefit of the armchair viewers
It s***s on fans who regularly attend matches home and away with so many potential time and day changes and as has been noted those who cannot attend but rely on ifollow
And with the revised allocation of monies does not do a great deal for clubs as it will certainly have a detrimental affect on gates for example would we have taken 3000 to Derby on wet Tuesday night I doubt it

No we wouldn't have taken 3000 to derby on a Tuesday night, nor a normal Saturday game either.

Given that sky don't have the champions league I'd have thought that a lot of the current midweek games will be the games that are shown anyway. All midweek championship games are already on the red button.

First I totally disagree with you we would have taken the full allocation at Derby on any Saturday this season as we have at most Saturday away games this season and we are not talking about midweek games but the affect on Saturday games
On any given week we could either have a 1230 kickoff or a match moved from Saturday for 16 games in league one or 23 in the championship plus opening and closing games plus bank holiday games will never be a 3.00 kickoff as all games will be live but have to adhere to section 48 rules
Therefore if it was next season we would possibly have away games starting at 1230 on a Saturday so for example for Derby that would mean coaches leaving here at 0630 or Shrewsbury a 0500 start or an away match on a midweek which due to school would stop my granddaughter going
Maybe I’m looking at it from my own point of view this could restrict our access to away games
It’s interesting that one telling comment in the blurb is “supporters want more broadcast content” I think that says it all its for the benefit of armchair viewers not real supporters who actually would rather attend a game why would I want more broadcast content when I can watch the game live in a stadium unless the game is moved to accommodate broadcast content
Maybe you welcome sitting at home watching Sky but we would rather watch a game where it’s being played

I'd rather by at the game, but when you live 5 hours away from Fratton Park that's not possible on a regular basis - still people that don't live within pissing distance of Fratton aren't real fans.

You want the club to spend more money, so it agrees a deal to bring in more money. You can't have your cake and eat it.

I would disagree that there will be a significant increase in income despite the PR rubbish currently we get 18% of the money we will next get 12% so that’s a 50% reduction therefore if it’s 50% more money it’s no real terms increase
Also changing home games is not an issue it’s the away games which will affect us
Anyway surely like our expat friend losing ifollow will restrict your access to games
An interesting example will be plastic dons who losing away supporters will significantly reduce their income
I’m not saying people who live away are not real fans but that this deal is aimed at people who watch football with no allegiance to a club rather than supporters of a club
I will make no apologies whatsoever in saying this deal is not in the interest of supporters of clubs like us but purely a money spinning deal for Sky