Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?

[TightEnd]

There is a complex picture beneath figures that show a marked decline in early season football viewing figures, and the big broadcasters must work out if this is a blip or a trend

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/24/sky-sports-bt-sport-people-switching-football-off

interesting stuff. i know i am watching less. not got the inclination to sit through Middlesborough v Watford at 4pm on a Sunday...

[TightEnd]

one broadcast jounalist said "Suspect more and more people feel they can follow the game without actually watching the games"

which is all to do with the fragmentation of media, social media, vines, streams etc etc

[exstream]

Skimmed through real quick
Aren't more and more people using android boxes and just watching whichever match they want
Does it take that into consideration

[MANTIS01]

Media is obv the main factor in changing habits but quality of games is a variable too. I used to be glued to England qualifiers and champions league but now a lot seem pointless matches against obscure nations or teams. I mean for all the best will in the world I don't give a fig about Ludogrets, Rostov or Luxembourg.

[PathFinder]

Subscription costs have gone up and free streaming services are easier to access and better quality now. Even my older family members who have little IT skills know how to stream football.

They need to lower their prices and offer streaming. Just look at Spotify, people don't mind paying a small monthly fee for convenience rather than downloading their music for free. Same with Netflix, Sky need to move with the times

[AndrewT]

I have certainly lost interest in watching football - just too many crappy games and overhyped nonsense (last week's Red Monday lolgame a prime example).

In the wider context, having yer Bournemouths, Burnleys and Watfords in the Prem League, with Newcastle, Villa and (as ever) Leeds downstairs won't help the casual fan (though I think this is a good thing for football generally - a closed shop goes against what football should be about)

Whilst some people are streaming, it's not a massive amount and I think a bigger factor is simply BT becoming a big player in the game. Before, a Sky subscription got you all the games, now it won't, plus you'll miss out on some big games as BT have a much better package than ESPN had before.

What has happened is that instead of blindly forking out for two subscriptions, some people have decided that they won't pay extra for BT, and now the Sky package ain't worth it either, so they'll do without.

[AndrewT]

They need to lower their prices and offer streaming. Just look at Spotify, people don't mind paying a small monthly fee for convenience rather than downloading their music for free. Same with Netflix, Sky need to move with the times

This is a good point - if companies get the price point right, people will pay.

Maybe the streaming sites are the Napster that will force change from Sky. I remember 20 years ago that a new chart CD would be £16 in HMV (the equivalent of about £28 in today's money). Now it'll be a tenner. That change only came about because people could get music for free.

[Archer]

A couple of  football forums I visit have huge threads dedicated to kodi and the likes. The general consesus being people are mad paying subscriptions when you can get it for free. I certainly feel the numbers involved must be escallating rapidly and technophobes have relatively straightforward instructions to be able to set it up easily.

[rinswun]

Really feel the future is a subscription service that gives you access to all the games which you can stream in real time or catch up with later. The NHL, NFL, MLB and AFL (Aussie Rules) all do it and it's much more a cost effective and convenient way of watching games.

The PL will still be able to sell games to TV but would be able to create another revenue stream. Football fans who aren't interested in our sports and don't want to commit £70/month for sky sports and a further £25/month for BT just to watch football, could subscribe for £300/year and get access to all the games.

[bobby1]

Two things spring to mind outside of the free streaming options. The way Skysports in particular treat football, all this red Monday, super Sunday rubbish is just dressed up drivel and the way they talk about every game as tho it is huge. Basically tho football these days is a game where in general both teams try not to lose before attempting to win/hold on for a draw or give it a go coz they have to in the last 20 minutes. And at the end of the day it's still a sport where 22 men try to cheat each other for 90 minutes where the losing team/manager moan about some reason they were cheated for the next two days.

One good thing I have come across is the BT Champs league goal show which is their equivalent of Soccer Saturday. Instead of having Phil Thompson of some other clown shouting oooooiihhhh or gooooooaalll they just talk about what is happening in the games they are covering and show the goals and talking points in a calm and objective manner. I'm not all that interested in Champs lge mismatches but find I have it on because it's an enjoyable show presented nicely. I wouldn't dream of putting Soccer Saturday on in the background and listen to fake excitement and completely over the top analysis.

[byronkincaid]

Why can't you legally watch every match? It just seems to be an antiquated, complex, expensive mess. Or you can see everything for free instead.

Just make it £5 a game or £100 up front to see all your team's games for the season.

[Woodsey]

A couple of  football forums I visit have huge threads dedicated to kodi and the likes. The general consesus being people are mad paying subscriptions when you can get it for free. I certainly feel the numbers involved must be escallating rapidly and technophobes have relatively straightforward instructions to be able to set it up easily.

I don't watch football, I wouldn't mind paying a small subscription to watch the rugby and cricket, but when they are asking me to pay a large subscription to basically bankroll the premier league they can forget it and I'll take the free option.

If they were a bit smarter about it they would something from me rather than nothing.....

[bobby1]

The exact same thing is happening with NFL in the US. Viewing figures are down this season and reasons given are bad officiating or over zealous officiating making the games even more stop start. A lack of top players and the fact they are spread around the teams ( it is impossible to have a Real Madrud type team in NFL because of the salary cap) so most games feature a smattering of quality. The great advantage NFL has over football tho is low scoring games can still be really good to watch. Seahawks 6 Arizona 6 on Sunday was a tight hard hitting smash mouth type game but had the most incredible last 30 mins or so. In games like that the D players make the games exciting because they too are quality players making quality plays. In soccer the Watford left back making an interception and passing it 10 yards barely gets a mention where in NFL those plays are crucial and viewers know that. So unlike soccer it isn't relying on goals/scores to make it exciting. The end if that Seahawks game featured two chip shot field goal misses to end the game with time expiring in overtime resulting in the first drawn game for 2 years. So the mistakes under pressure were big play exciting moments. You just don't get enough excitement outside scoring moments in soccer and in a game that averages 2.5 scores a game it just doesn't have enough to hold the attention.

[Archer]

The exact same thing is happening with NFL in the US. Viewing figures are down this season and reasons given are bad officiating or over zealous officiating making the games even more stop start. A lack of top players and the fact they are spread around the teams ( it is impossible to have a Real Madrud type team in NFL because of the salary cap) so most games feature a smattering of quality. The great advantage NFL has over football tho is low scoring games can still be really good to watch. Seahawks 6 Arizona 6 on Sunday was a tight hard hitting smash mouth type game but had the most incredible last 30 mins or so. In games like that the D players make the games exciting because they too are quality players making quality plays. In soccer the Watford left back making an interception and passing it 10 yards barely gets a mention where in NFL those plays are crucial and viewers know that. So unlike soccer it isn't relying on goals/scores to make it exciting. The end if that Seahawks game featured two chip shot field goal misses to end the game with time expiring in overtime resulting in the first drawn game for 2 years. So the mistakes under pressure were big play exciting moments. You just don't get enough excitement outside scoring moments in soccer and in a game that averages 2.5 scores a game it just doesn't have enough to hold the attention.

All very subjective.

The argument in the "Numbers Game":

"Why is football so enduring, so ubiquitously popular? What is it about football that people love? The answer lies in the goal. The goal is football. Its rarity is its magic...... Football is defined by rare events - goals - but they exist in a a sea of hundreds, thousands of extraneous events: atckles, passes, long throw-ins. Football is different because the things that decide who wins and who loses happen only occasionally while other things - such as passes - happen all the time. And it is this rarity - the lopsideness between effort and scoring - we believe, that lends football its allure."

[arbboy]

There is just such a huge volume of sport on TV now. I watch and bet on sport for a living as you all know.  I probably watch circa 60 hours of live sport a week and still could easily watch another 60 hours of live sport if i had the time because the sheer range of top class sport constantly on TV now compared to 25 years ago is immense.  The average joe in the street who has to work and can't sit at home and watch sport like me all day has to select his recreational sport viewing now across so many more sports/medias etc.  It is no wonder the big leagues are suffering dropping viewing figures imo. 

25 years ago you couldn't watch any NBA in this country period.  Now you can watch every single game via any betting site without even paying, nbaplayer on nba.com and 4 games a week live on BT sport just as an example of how things have changed on one sport.  This can be applied to virtually every sport.