Football & Coronavirus [READ MOD NOTE IN FIRST POST - updated 06-05-20]

qm1bv4p8i92aoj

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

Are footballers actually that thick?
Hudson Odoi had the virus and then does this.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-8328935/Chelsea-star-Callum-Hudson-Odoi-arrested-4am-row-model.html

I'm sure two of the most vocal opponents to returning to play his, teammates William and Tammy Abraham, are delighted that this fella they are sharing a dressing room with is meeting randomers off the internet for hookups. Tammy was only on about how worried he was about project restart cus his father suffers from bronchial asthma a couple of days ago.

Mitch Connor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So he's immune, maybe, and doesn't have it to infect his model friend, probably.

Seems fine to me!

Yep, he's clear 6 weeks.

NIMAN

I was bemoaning how uninspired I was watching the Dortmund game yesterday, and this piece sums it up perfectly.
This isn't football.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52696930

The_Kew_Tour

NIMAN wrote: »

I was bemoaning how uninspired I was watching the Dortmund game yesterday, and this piece sums it up perfectly.
This isn't football.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52696930

German public dont seem be big fans of it either. I think we will get more used to it though, we may have no other choice.

Cantona's Collars

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So he's immune, maybe, and doesn't have it to infect his model friend, probably.

Seems fine to me!

Seems fine apart from her having to ring an ambulance at 4am and being taken to hospital with the cops arresting him.

Tom Mann Centuria

I'm sure when he asked her to go in her lingerie she thought she'd be discussing Wittgenstein over a game of Backgammon.

2 classy individuals for sure. And I dare say even though we don't know who she is yet, the Sun or another tabloid will be negotiating for her tale of woe.

Expect his completely insincere apology any time now.

8-10

NIMAN wrote: »

I was bemoaning how uninspired I was watching the Dortmund game yesterday, and this piece sums it up perfectly.
This isn't football.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52696930

I've been to LOI first division games with less people in attendance.

Just needs getting used to. We watch for the game, not for the crowd

Dave0301

8-10 wrote: »

I've been to LOI first division games with less people in attendance.

Just needs getting used to. We watch for the game, not for the crowd

Yes, but I doubt that was in a stadium for about 81000 fans, so it is all relative. Was great to watch some live football, but it is not the same as having fans there.
Better than nothing though.

Hodors Appletart

why do people who largely watch football on tv care whether or not there are people in the stadium? I don't understand that

8-10

Dave0301 wrote: »

Yes, but I doubt that was in a stadium for about 81000 fans, so it is all relative. Was great to watch some live football, but it is not the same as having fans there.
Better than nothing though.

Oh yeah I'm not for a second saying it's the same, I've been clear in my opinion that it's different and is going to take some getting used to.

I agree it's much better than no football and a big step in the right direction.

What I was responding to is the claim that this 'isn't football'

Across society we have to accept that a lot is going to change, certain things may never be the same again. But I think it's hyperbole to suggest that this is some completely alien new thing just because the crowd isn't there. It's a massive change, yes, but football has been played for years everywhere in the world competitively whether there were 81,000 or nobody watching. It's the same sport in an updated context.

Mitch Connor

the football without fans thing is BS. Always has been. Should be 'Football Clubs without Supporters are nothing'.

Football without fans is most Sunday league football, every game of football I played with my mates as a kid. every 5 aside game I played. every kick about on the road.

Is United vs City at OT in front of 76k more 'football' than United vs City youths at Carrington?

Cantona's Collars

I watched some of the Bundesliga over the weekend, without the fans it's just soulless. People might say "oh it's what's happening on the pitch that is important" but have they been to a massive game in a packed stadium? The ebb and flow of the game is added to by the interaction of the crowd. Even the buildup to a game,the pints and singing before it,the walk up to the stadium,the anticipation before kickoff and the roar of the crowd to greet the teams.
Now there's a detachment from it,yes it's still 22 men on a pitch kicking a ball but it's a sterile affair.

Tom Mann Centuria

The Scottish Premier League is over for another season, Celtic declared champions (could have done that last August really and saved everyone the hassle). Hearts relegated.

ricero

Another nail in the coffin for the null and voiders

Fr Tod Umptious

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

I watched some of the Bundesliga over the weekend, without the fans it's just soulless. People might say "oh it's what's happening on the pitch that is important" but have they been to a massive game in a packed stadium? The ebb and flow of the game is added to by the interaction of the crowd. Even the buildup to a game,the pints and singing before it,the walk up to the stadium,the anticipation before kickoff and the roar of the crowd to greet the teams.
Now there's a detachment from it,yes it's still 22 men on a pitch kicking a ball but it's a sterile affair.

This is where TV companies and as a result the premier league are going to struggle.

They have to convince the ordinary person that these games are worth a TV subscription.

If they do that at current prices they won't get much uptake.
If they reduce prices then the price they will not be willing to shell out as much for rights in the future.

Either way the money sloshing around the premier league will go down.

Mitch Connor

The CHO story going WAY beyond Covid lockdown breach.

Has been accused of rape.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-8328935/Chelsea-Callum-Hudson-Odoi-arrested-rape-claims.html?__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true

Mitch Connor

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

This is where TV companies and as a result the premier league are going to struggle.

They have to convince the ordinary person that these games are worth a TV subscription.

If they do that at current prices they won't get much uptake.
If they reduce prices then the price they will not be willing to shell out as much for rights in the future.

Either way the money sloshing around the premier league will go down.

If TV Contracts fall through the floor, PL (and the clubs) are going to look at streaming, imo, and having essentially every club on stream with individual subs. Clubs stand to make more money, well some do. United and Liverpool would rake it in, for example.

8-10

8-10 wrote: »

Belgium, France and The Netherlands all have new TV deals starting next season. There's much less penalty not finishing this season under the old deal than there is with not starting next season, the first under the new deal, on time

It's pretty clear to me that this is the reason these leagues aren't attempting to restart. They want to give next season every chance of starting on time. For some of the other leagues, the financial hit is nearly the opposite with potential rebates for not finishing.

It's just money. The only league I know of that has a new TV deal starting next season that hasn't yet ended the league is Scotland. Watch out for that one I bet you'll see the same thing happen

Yup

Rock77

ricero wrote: »

Another nail in the coffin for the null and voiders

Let it go Ricero

A Dub in Glasgo

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

The Scottish Premier League is over for another season, Celtic declared champions (could have done that last August really and saved everyone the hassle). Hearts relegated.

Steven Gerrard thinks the SPFL acted hastily, he reckons he can overturn a 13 point gap to actually win it behind closed doors!

The_Kew_Tour

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

The Scottish Premier League is over for another season, Celtic declared champions (could have done that last August really and saved everyone the hassle). Hearts relegated.

Karma baby, Karma. Love it:D

Tom Mann Centuria

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Steven Gerrard thinks the SPFL acted hastily, he reckons he can overturn a 13 point gap to actually win it behind closed doors!

Just as there's no cure for covid19, there's also no cure for that!

Tom Mann Centuria

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

The Scottish Premier League is over for another season, Celtic declared champions (could have done that last August really and saved everyone the hassle). Hearts relegated.

Great to see big decisions being made in leagues, either by finishing the season as is or a plan in place to finish.

Fr Tod Umptious

Mitch Connor wrote: »

If TV Contracts fall through the floor, PL (and the clubs) are going to look at streaming, imo, and having essentially every club on stream with individual subs. Clubs stand to make more money, well some do. United and Liverpool would rake it in, for example.

Doesn't matter whether the platform is satellite TV or internet steaming, demand for the product is going to go down if it's long term behind closed doors.

As for clubs having individual channels or streams well then it's time to rip up the premier league charter and start fresh, because the premier league was established on the basis of the premier league teams sharing the TV money themselves to the exclusion of the other 72 odd clubs.

Tom Mann Centuria

6 wrote: »

Great to see big decisions being made in leagues, either by finishing the season as is or a plan in place to finish.

Yeah I think it's getting to the point where England are one of, or maybe the last, to outline a definitive plan. Time to sh*t or get off the pot.

Mitch Connor

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Doesn't matter whether the platform is satellite TV or internet steaming, demand for the product is going to go down if it's long term behind closed doors.

As for clubs having individual channels or streams well then it's time to rip up the premier league charter and start fresh, because the premier league was established on the basis of the premier league teams sharing the TV money themselves to the exclusion of the other 72 odd clubs.

a dedicated streaming platform provided by the PL can have a much lower cost to the customer, which makes it more attractive to the customer. Despite it being a lower cost per customer, the margin the PL make per customer can be higher (as it is dedicated).

There would be additional costs the PL would have to do it that they do not have now, broadcasting stuff, but from what I read previously, the potential for the PL to make more with a smaller cost to the customer is very much there.

As for sharing TV rev - a streaming platform could maintain that. It could be a PL platform, similar to NFL GamePass - which I think would be the model for PL to follow.Though I think the clubs will try to get a bigger peice of the pie based on individual popularity - i can see them looking at individual deals in foreign regions - which I believe is something that has already been put on the table previously (By United, i think)

8-10

https://twitter.com/danroan/status/1262369645924925441

Premier League back training tomorrow. First step.

DM_7

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Yeah I think it's getting to the point where England are one of, or maybe the last, to outline a definitive plan. Time to sh*t or get off the pot.

The plan is to finish the season.

That will remain the plan until such a time as the value of finishing the season has diminished to the point that a new season will make them more money.

The League and Clubs are 100% correct to take as long as they need to make sure they restart safely and with public support in a way that maximises their opportunities in an appropriate way.

irelandrover

I'd disagree with that. Before fans of teams that were shown little wouldn't get a package as a lot of their games wouldn't be shown. If most games are now shown it is more attractive to them A lot of season ticket holders who couldn't afford sky will now be able to as they wont have to pay for a season ticket.

Mitch Connor

irelandrover wrote: »

I'd disagree with that. Before fans of teams that were shown little wouldn't get a package as a lot of their games wouldn't be shown. If most games are now shown it is more attractive to them A lot of season ticket holders who couldn't afford sky will now be able to as they wont have to pay for a season ticket.

NLF GamePass (as an example model) has a blackout clause on streaming so if a game is not sold out in the stdium (or over an occupancy percentage) the game is not shown live on stream, in the local area anyway.

PL would likely have to do *something* similar. Not exactly the same, but do something. I would also guess there would still need to be something around 3pm kickoffs - as much to protect lower league clubs.

An interesting thing could be an end of the traditional TV slots, as you'd have less need for them.

PL could play a bunch of games at 5.30 (moving out of 3 pm slot for lower league) without needing to worry about Sky having a dedicated audience at 5.30. I reckon they would still want at least 1 'big game' slot a weekend just from a presentation point of view.

DM_7

Mitch Connor wrote: »

a dedicated streaming platform provided by the PL can have a much lower cost to the customer, which makes it more attractive to the customer. Despite it being a lower cost per customer, the margin the PL make per customer can be higher (as it is dedicated).

There would be additional costs the PL would have to do it that they do not have now, broadcasting stuff, but from what I read previously, the potential for the PL to make more with a smaller cost to the customer is very much there.

As for sharing TV rev - a streaming platform could maintain that. It could be a PL platform, similar to NFL GamePass - which I think would be the model for PL to follow.Though I think the clubs will try to get a bigger peice of the pie based on individual popularity - i can see them looking at individual deals in foreign regions - which I believe is something that has already been put on the table previously (By United, i think)

The maths behind getting people to pay are staggering. Sky and BT are paying close to 4.5billion for the games over three years.

A lower price point for existing sky customers would be an obvious attraction but getting enough people to pay the level of money needed to replace 4.5 billion sterling over 3 years is staggering considering how few people pay anything to watch now.

The price point of say 15 per month for 10 months a year over 3 years would still require almost 10million domestic subs to break even from what they get now.

Onviously some games could still be made available to sky but surely the price they would pay would collapse and having two options would damage the ability of sky/bt and premier league to get subscriptions?

Mitch Connor

DM_7 wrote: »

The maths behind getting people to pay are staggering. Sky and BT are paying close to 4.5billion for the games over three years.

A lower price point for existing sky customers would be an obvious attraction but getting enough people to pay the level of money needed to replace 4.5 billion sterling over 3 years is staggering considering how few people pay anything to watch now.

The price point of say 15 per month for 10 months a year over 3 years would still require almost 10million domestic subs to break even from what they get now.

Onviously some games could still be made available to sky but surely the price they would pay would collapse and having two options would damage the ability of sky/bt and premier league to get subscriptions?

Why would the PL care about Sky or BT subs?

If the PL go streaming they go streaming, BT and Sky will have lost out on the bidding to the PL, essentially.

The argument is also predicated on the TV cash dropping massively, so in essence the streaming cash doesn't need to hit 3.5billion. 2 billion could be a big uptick on the traditional TV money available to them in that round of bidding.

Fr Tod Umptious

Mitch Connor wrote: »

NLF GamePass (as an example model) has a blackout clause on streaming so if a game is not sold out in the stdium (or over an occupancy percentage) the game is not shown live on stream, in the local area anyway.

PL would likely have to do *something* similar. Not exactly the same, but do something. I would also guess there would still need to be something around 3pm kickoffs - as much to protect lower league clubs.

An interesting thing could be an end of the traditional TV slots, as you'd have less need for them.

PL could play a bunch of games at 5.30 (moving out of 3 pm slot for lower league) without needing to worry about Sky having a dedicated audience at 5.30. I reckon they would still want at least 1 'big game' slot a weekend just from a presentation point of view.

Not just Gamepass (I'm not sure about it's availability in the US in general) but actual local network television has a blackout if a game is not sold out/meet capacity threshold.

So the people watching the CBS, NBC or Fox broadcast are not able to watch the local team if that team it not selling a certain amount of tickets.

Rock77

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Steven Gerrard thinks the SPFL acted hastily, he reckons he can overturn a 13 point gap to actually win it behind closed doors!

And in my opinion Steven Gerrard is correct, who knows what could have happened.. crazy stuff awarding trophies to teams that haven’t won them

Fr Tod Umptious

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Why would the PL care about Sky or BT subs?

If the PL go streaming they go streaming, BT and Sky will have lost out on the bidding to the PL, essentially.

The argument is also predicated on the TV cash dropping massively, so in essence the streaming cash doesn't need to hit 3.5billion. 2 billion could be a big uptick on the traditional TV money available to them in that round of bidding.

But it's all a loss to the premier league.

If they start streaming themselves then they are not getting x billion from the media companies while at the same time having to produce and sell their own streaming service.

And remember, the product is diminished, because the stadiums are empty, and as people here has said from watching the Bundesliga, it's just not the same.

Fitz*

8-10 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/danroan/status/1262369645924925441

Premier League back training tomorrow. First step.

I'm actually a bit skeptical about when that meeting actually took place.

A lot of players had posts on social media during the weekend about returning to training soon. They wouldn't be doing that on a chance result of the meeting today.

I think the PL clubs had already agreed on the majority of decisions very early and a lot of the information in the media over the last 3 to 4 weeks is just pantomime-esque stuff to maintain an high interest level.

fyfe79

Rock77 wrote: »

Let it go Ricero

Generally, I agree - time to move on. But let's be honest, if the null & void option was looking more and more likely, you'd have plenty of lads on here giving it large.

Who knows what will happen - null/void could yet end up being an option if things go horribly wrong over the next while, and it was reasonable to have a discussion about it at the time, but there were lads on here who were giving their opinion as fact and implying that people who thought the league would continue BCD were simply delusional or idiotic.

citytillidie

Streaming will not happen until it is near perfect time wise for the bookies

yabadabado

Mitch Connor wrote: »

a dedicated streaming platform provided by the PL can have a much lower cost to the customer, which makes it more attractive to the customer. Despite it being a lower cost per customer, the margin the PL make per customer can be higher (as it is dedicated).

There would be additional costs the PL would have to do it that they do not have now, broadcasting stuff, but from what I read previously, the potential for the PL to make more with a smaller cost to the customer is very much there.

As for sharing TV rev - a streaming platform could maintain that. It could be a PL platform, similar to NFL GamePass - which I think would be the model for PL to follow.Though I think the clubs will try to get a bigger peice of the pie based on individual popularity - i can see them looking at individual deals in foreign regions - which I believe is something that has already been put on the table previously (By United, i think)

Tifo football did a podcast on it a few months back and the revenue they had calculated the EPL could make going down that route was huge.
EPL would become the broadcaster instead of selling packages to sky/bt etc .

citytillidie

fyfe79 wrote: »

Generally, I agree - time to move on. But let's be honest, if the null & void option was looking more and more likely, you'd have plenty of lads on here giving it large.

Who knows what will happen - null/void could yet end up being an option if things go horribly wrong over the next while, and it was reasonable to have a discussion about it at the time, but there were lads on here who were giving their opinion as fact and implying that people who thought the league would continue BCD were simply delusional or idiotic.

Will be hard to justify a null and void now after League 2 have said teams will be promoted but have gotten a loop hole with relegation as they can say the can invite Barrow to replace Bury. Along with other leagues declaring their seasons finished and declaring champions and relegation

yabadabado

citytillidie wrote: »

Streaming will not happen until it is near perfect time wise for the bookies

why do you think that ?

fyfe79

citytillidie wrote: »

Will be hard to justify a null and void now after League 2 have said teams will be promoted but have gotten a loop hole with relegation as they can say the can invite Barrow to replace Bury. Along with other leagues declaring their seasons finished and declaring champions and relegation

Yeah, hard to justify voiding now, but the games might not necessarily get played if things go south - in which case PPG would probably be used to determine final placings, like Scotland.

LuckyLloyd

Rock77 wrote: »

And in my opinion Steven Gerrard is correct, who knows what could have happened.. crazy stuff awarding trophies to teams that haven’t won them

Let it go Rock77

Rock77

fyfe79 wrote: »

Generally, I agree - time to move on. But let's be honest, if the null & void option was looking more and more likely, you'd have plenty of lads on here giving it large.

Who knows what will happen - null/void could yet end up being an option if things go horribly wrong over the next while, and it was reasonable to have a discussion about it at the time, but there were lads on here who were giving their opinion as fact and implying that people who thought the league would continue BCD were simply delusional or idiotic.

My issue is one particular poster is still carrying on with the narrative that there’s loads of ‘null and voiders’ in here. There isn’t, the general consensus is the season will be finished, some people think it might be too early to go back but there are not many in here over the past while that I can remember saying that the season should be null and void.

8-10

FitzShane wrote: »

I'm actually a bit skeptical about when that meeting actually took place.

A lot of players had posts on social media during the weekend about returning to training soon. They wouldn't be doing that on a chance result of the meeting today.

It's no difference to people this time last week planning on going to Woodies today. We all knew that Ireland would be entering phase 1 this week but it wasn't actually confirmed until Friday. Most people I know were very presumptious that we'd just enter the phase before it was confirmed.

This is similar. Phase 1 of training in small groups had already been planned to resume tomorrow but it wasn't official until the meeting to confirm that there's nothing stopping teams from moving into this phase.

citytillidie

yabadabado wrote: »

why do you think that ?

Bookies have too much sponsorship at the moment in football, with the delay in streams people will stop doing live bets, which maybe a good thing for them but the bookies will not like it.

Mitch Connor

citytillidie wrote: »

Streaming will not happen until it is near perfect time wise for the bookies

TV isn't actually Live as it is, it is on a minute or so delay - for reasons of Directing and security.

Mitch Connor

fyfe79 wrote: »

Generally, I agree - time to move on. But let's be honest, if the null & void option was looking more and more likely, you'd have plenty of lads on here giving it large.

Who knows what will happen - null/void could yet end up being an option if things go horribly wrong over the next while, and it was reasonable to have a discussion about it at the time, but there were lads on here who were giving their opinion as fact and implying that people who thought the league would continue BCD were simply delusional or idiotic.

Null and Void hasn't been an actual possiibility for weeks. Uefa took it firmly off the table by saying qualification for CL and EL 20/21 had to be on sporting merit of the 19/20 season.

Only people looking to troll have been bringing up Null and Void since then. It was likely never really on the table, but it has not been a possibility at all since then.

Agent Coulson

Sky Germany with record viewing numbers for Bundesliga football the games also drew record viewing numbers in the States.

Bundesliga Return Draws Record Numbers For Sky In Germany

Sky Germany had a market share of 27.4 percent on their pay-to-view channels and 18.2 percent on their free channel.

The domestic figure is more than double the typical audience for a round of Saturday matches. The games were broadcast by more than 70 broadcasters worldwide, according to AFP.

The Bundesliga games also drew record numbers in the U.S.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/bundesliga-return-draws-record-numbers-for-sky-in-germany-1202936949/

Cantona's Collars

Nigel Clough and some of his staff have left Burton and are going to be replaced by the Burton captain on a player-manager role with finance playing a part.

The last bit about finance is telling,a lot of clubs will struggle in the lower leagues to hold onto players and management.