The True Cost of Watching Football in the UK

The Premier League’s broadcasting strategy needs a major rethink. The current situation, with games scattered across Sky Sports, TNT Sports, and Amazon Prime, it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s creating a negative viewing experience.

On top of the £58 per month the average UK football fan already forks out for access to games shown on Sky and TNT, they must now pay an additional £8.99 per month for Amazon Prime’s coverage – a total exceeding £700 per year to watch domestic football alone.

This total doesn’t even include further subscriptions like ESPN, Premier Sports, or Viaplay. Comparing this with other nations - in Germany, fans can watch the Bundesliga through Sky Deutschland for around €30 per month. Spain offers La Liga coverage through DAZN and Movistar at similar rates, and even in the United States, where sports broadcasting is often criticised, every MLS game is broadcast live for just $14.99 per month via Apple TV. So why are British fans paying so much more?

In a society where a significant cost-of-living crisis is already impacting the UK population, asking fans to pay at least £58 a month to watch domestic football seems tone-deaf, and frankly outright scandalous.

The 3pm blackout only adds to the frustration. Introduced in the 1960s aiming to improve lower-league attendances, broadcasters are banned from showing live domestic football between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturdays. Despite this, the current state of affairs suggests matchday attendances are just fine.

The 2022/23 Premier League season saw an average attendance of 40,235 per match – the highest since 1946. Lower leagues are also thriving, with 17 National League clubs averaging more than 2,000 fans at home games during the same season, suggesting that attendances are doing just fine across the board. Ticket demand and increased attendances are driven by loyal supporters, not simply because of the blackout.

The stats suggest that the 3pm blackout may no longer be needed for protecting attendances. While it served its purpose in the mid-20th century, football’s current popularity and online accessibility render it increasingly outdated. Instead, the blackout now alienates non-match-going fans. Those living abroad, unable to travel, or priced out of expensive matchday tickets are left without a legal way to watch their team play. Therefore, many are turning to illegal streaming.

The UK is suffering from a significant rise in illegal streaming. A 2023 survey by YouGov found 5.1 million people in England, Scotland, and Wales admitted to watching sports via an illegal stream. Why? The fragmented nature of broadcasting rights.

Fans are annoyed with having to shuffle from channel to channel and subscription to subscription just to watch football in their own country. Brentford supporter Siraj captured the frustration in a 2021 interview with the BBC, saying: "I could definitely turn my back on paying for football, which pushes me down the avenue of should I just stop going to games and watch them at home? Should I even pay for watching them at home or should I just find an illegal stream?"

The cost is unacceptable, and the blackout blocks any legal access, meaning piracy has become the solution for many.

Illegal streams carry a threat to both fans and the sport. Threats to cybersecurity and legal consequences are common issues for streamers and users. In May 2023, football streamer Mark Gould was sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling £10-per-month subscriptions to Premier League games.

For the sport, illegal streams cause significant lost revenue for broadcasters and clubs reliant on TV revenue. A 2019 report by the Intellectual Property Office estimated that illegal streaming cost the UK economy £1 billion annually, with Premier League clubs losing around £200 million each year in broadcasting revenue. This figure has grown with the rise in illegal streaming.

This solution seems obvious. A singular platform showing all matches under one subscription. This platform, similar to services like Netflix or Disney +, has already proven successful in other sports. The NFL Game Pass is a perfect example – for $14.99 per month, American football spectators have access to every game, along with top analytics, interactive replays, and exclusive content.

A singular platform for football in the UK would help combat the streaming issue. An affordable platform would remove the need to seek illegal solutions, as fans could access every game using a legal subscription. Said platform would also simplify the coverage, meaning fans no longer have to flick between channels to find a game. And most importantly, a single platform would reduce the financial burden on supporters, removing the need for multiple, ludicrously priced subscriptions.

However, this change is unrealistic. Changing to a unified platform would require the green light from broadcasters, sponsors, governing bodies, and clubs. The biggest issue would be broadcasting rights. The Premier League generates £1.6 billion per season from TV deals with Sky, TNT, and Amazon. Moving to a single subscription service would require a significant change to how these rights are sold.

One possibility is for the Premier League and EFL to retain broadcasting rights, similar to the NFL, and license them to a lone provider. Or perhaps the league could launch a service similar to F1 TV, with a more direct-to-consumer approach.

These proposed changes would massively disrupt existing deals and agreements, though the payoff would be huge. A lone platform would attract millions of customers, thus generating a constant stream of revenue for leagues and clubs while still offering fans an enjoyable, and affordable, viewing experience.

These changes are needed soon. The current model isn’t sustainable. Fans are left continually stuck between spending hundreds of pounds per year or resorting to pirated streams. These issues risk alienating the people who make the sport so unique – the dedicated supporters who travel hundreds of miles, buy merchandise, and spend hard-earned wages just to cheer on their beloved team.

Football in the UK remains at a crossroads. The costs of watching games, outdated blackout laws, and the continued rise of streaming suggests the system needs reform. It’s time to put the fans first. Those responsible must come together to provide a solution that suits modern consumption.

Football isn’t just a sport – it’s a way of life. Let’s ensure it remains so for years to come.

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