25/04 - 20:00
Amazon’s trialing of Premier League rights through December was, by all accounts, a resounding success.
People fell in love with the option of stadium noise, the ability to flick between live games, and having multiple screens going at once watching every match available.
In fact, the only thing people didn’t like was the highly-questionable win probability graphic.
People liked it so much, most began dreaming of the future, a time when all the games are available on demand, whenever they’re wanted. One provider, one payment, every game, whenever you want, sounds great, right?
But there’s one absolutely blaring logistical problem, putting aside the more than valid anger many have over Amazon’s tax avoidance, and that’s the sacred 3pm Saturday kick-off blackout.
You can criticise English football for a multitude of reasons. Lack of coaching, lack of youth development, lack of tactical awareness taking away an on-pitch identity, and money destroying match day experience, as well as the quality of competition.
But there’s one thing English football objectively does better than any other country, and by a distance, and that’s lower league football.
The Championship, for instance, has an average attendance of 18 thousand people, twice that of the second division in Spain and Italy, while the top three attendances in England’s third tier are higher than the bottom three in the respective first divisions.
Even in Germany, where much could be learned from a far superior level of fan treatment and fan ownership, the first and third division attendances are evenly matched to their respective English leagues, despite the Germans having the huge advantage of safe standing boosting numbers by over 30%.
And while there’s cultural reasons why we value the lower leagues in England, there’s one safeguard that keeps attendances high, and Amazon may well put in danger, with an audience seemingly more than open to the idea of them doing so.
The 3pm blackout rule has existed since the 1960s on the basis that a large proportion of football fans would rather watch a televised Premier League game at home, than go and support their local side.
No live football matches are prohibited to be shown between 14:45 and 17:15 during Saturdays, when the majority of Premier League, and vast majority of Football League matches are shown.
This is again a stark contrast to competitions like La Liga in Spain, where fixtures are now completely staggered from Friday through Monday, ensuring no overlap so every game can be televised, culminating in Malaga fans attending a game that finished past midnight wearing pyjamas, as if those in charge care about already low attendances.
Eleven Sports recently broke the British rule by showing 15:15pm La Liga games, but the broadcaster got their just deserts, having to pull out of the UK market due to a lack of subscribers.
Amazon however, are funded by a man in Jeff Bezos who recently declared he has had to put his billions into missions to Mars because there’s nothing else expensive enough for him to pay for, apart from taxes.
Streaming is undoubtedly the future, whether it be with Amazon, Sky or BT. Watching games via internet connection on non-traditional devices will naturally increase.
And despite last week’s efforts, Sky and BT are likely to continue dominating the market as the money they make from broadband included packages ensures whatever the price of Premier League football rises to, it will always be worth it.
Amazon, however, may not make the profits from the Premier League that force Sky and BT to bid record fees for rights, but they have an ulterior motive. Amazon’s aim is to monopolise the market, and take over your household.
For a company and owner that have shown so little regard for morality, the future health of the English football pyramid and the rules that keep it so strong, would be nothing more than an afterthought.
