New TV Deal

https://www.skysports.com/foot.....ND,2T46,8G4Y5,C3I1,1

Not really much more info but a reminder it's drawing closer .

Will the first and last games be at weird kick off times ?

I just hope it’ll still concern us

Yes. The TV matches will all kick off outside the window so the latest it can be is 1pm, and the earliest is 5:30pm, assuming they are on Saturdays. That includes the opening weekend. There are 5 matches a week in L1/L2 so I guess it's reasonable that 2 L2 matches every weekend will be moved. I am guessing they might have an early one and a late one maybe, Or it may be that L1/L2 are moved to Sunday and they play the Championship on Saturday. They'll probably be spread over the whole weekend one way or the other. The Championship is going to be terrible if you want to watch games with half the games being moved!

Quoted from GrimRob

Yes. The TV matches will all kick off outside the window so the latest it can be is 1pm, and the earliest is 5:30pm, assuming they are on Saturdays. That includes the opening weekend. There are 5 matches a week in L1/L2 so I guess it's reasonable that 2 L2 matches every weekend will be moved. I am guessing they might have an early one and a late one maybe, Or it may be that L1/L2 are moved to Sunday and they play the Championship on Saturday. They'll probably be spread over the whole weekend one way or the other. The Championship is going to be terrible if you want to watch games with half the games being moved!

There will be 2 games each from L1 and L2 at 12:30 every standard Saturday. An additional game from either division will also be shown at a different time- rumoured to be Sunday lunchtime.

On International weekends it’s fairly safe to assume the games will be spread across Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 and 15:00 before the international matches start later in the day.

Don’t be surprised if up to 30 of our league matches are on Sky Sports next season.

It's all about the money & financial survival of the fittest & the most well run management team of football clubs, this is where Grimsby Town will do well as they have local & very good owners with the football club at their heart, preservation of league status is an absolute must to be part of the future in the EFL. Relegation to oblivion ( National League) is not an option.

The way of the world..everything dictated by money. Decisions based on money. Lower league clubs haven’t a choice in accepting any deal from media - be it a good one or bad. This one has many question marks but the marketing re more opportunities to see your side on the box swayed many. The added finances another bribe, I mean convincing argument - but again no proportion to the top level. Can’t help but be a tad cynical ..it’s a never ending circle..more money via tv deals to the top, more money to spend - rest of the footballing world have to spend merely to compete, putting themselves in jeopardy long term. Some teams will break rules, lose points, pfft..so what. Other, more genuine teams, will actually struggle to survive..long term. Will anyone in governance/power/football top brasses care?? No..they’ll bang on about what a great deal they got, and how much more money they were given etc etc.

The other cynical part for me is this a deal designed in trying to stop the ‘watch on dodgy box’ sections..ever growing I might add. Why? Because they’re being priced out of watching the National game. I’ve no idea how some do it..week in..week out..up and down the country..if you’ve a family it’s ridiculous the costs, never mind going on your own.

Anyway..sigh….

I’d be interested/having a keen eye on season ticket take ups here and elsewhere..of course some clubs have already started selling, but for clubs like us who have to wait..will they announce the different kick off times at same time as release fixture list? Or in advance? I doubt it.. so it’ll be nigh on impossible to plan travelling to away games for fans. Who’ll end up buying tickets, and no doubt rearranging work Rota’s, arranging travel etc and it have to be altered. No thought for the supporters at all.

But as said..money dictates.

This aspect of relegation is the one which worried me the most. Miss out on this (which after 20 years of financial struggle would be the most Town thing in the world to happen) and it effectively consigns us to non league for years and years, if not for good.

I don’t agree with the changes, but it isn’t going away.

These changes do not help supporters, especially away fans with unsocial KO times.

More money for clubs sounds good but every team benefits.  Therefore, no real relative changes.

Clubs do not go bust with a lack of money.  It is down to very poor management, bad decisions, and spending money that they do not have.  How you use the money that you have is key.  Look at Chelsea and Man United.

(ITV Digital money allowed to pay a Chinese international an obscene amount of money in wages).

I don't know if I missed it, but how much are we getting from Sky?, is it on a televised match by match or a lump sum split between all clubs?

Quoted from 140381

This aspect of relegation is the one which worried me the most. Miss out on this (which after 20 years of financial struggle would be the most Town thing in the world to happen) and it effectively consigns us to non league for years and years, if not for good.

I don’t agree with the changes, but it isn’t going away.

Originally I sort of agreed but seeing it's only 300k a season the main question for me is how much will it affect matchday revenue ?

We don't know , but say if we lose 15k fans  over the season it would almost wipe out the financial benefit or if it's a lesser number it will at least wipe out part of the gain ; I suppose the other thing is I'm not sure what the current deal provides in terms of revenue with the ifollow on top?

Is it only £300000 a season? I didn’t know that. FFS.

Quoted from 140381

Is it only £300000 a season? I didn’t know that. FFS.

No mate I think it's 300k 'extra' on top of whatever we got before but I'm not even sure what that is ?

I just don't think it's this great deal they are making out .

I suppose it's gauranteed income but the variable of impact on attendances is yet to be established - say if we go from averaging 6300 to 5500 because of less fans turning up both  home and from away (i know teams don't bring many ) then that money won't even be a revenue increase will it . We will see next season , at least I can 100% say that now .

Quoted from Mappers

No mate I think it's 300k 'extra' on top of whatever we got before but I'm not even sure what that is ?

I just don't think it's this great deal they are making out .

I suppose it's gauranteed income but the variable of impact on attendances is yet to be established - say if we go from averaging 6300 to 5500 because of less fans turning up both  home and from away (i know teams don't bring many ) then that money won't even be a revenue increase will it . We will see next season , at least I can 100% say that now .

300K extra is just over £13,000 per home game.  At say £20 a ticket if we lose less than 650 off gates we gain.

Reading this thread and realising the amount of games we might have on tv , the extra revenue and the potential for smaller home  crowds on televised games makes me think we need the modern digital advertising boards to maximise sponsorship revenue?

Extra revenue = bigger player salaries, agents will have been tapping into their calculators the minute it was announced.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Extra revenue = bigger player salaries, agents will have been tapping into their calculators the minute it was announced.

Yeah they could give each club a billion and it would go straight in players and agents pockets .
That’s the problem with the game at our level , none of the money stays in the game or at the clubs .
The league needs to agree to a salary cap

The TV deal itself and the value is irrelevant. Everyone's getting it so there's no absolutely no advantage in it.

However, the impact on gates could be either an impact or a concern.

If we manage to hold onto our gates as others drop off, especially those with the larger gates, we could be at a competitive advantage for once. The lack of interest we usually get could well be in our favour here.

I presume there's no match day fees for games televised now? It used to be something like £30k for each home game that was televised.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Reading this thread and realising the amount of games we might have on tv , the extra revenue and the potential for smaller home  crowds on televised games makes me think we need the modern digital advertising boards to maximise sponsorship revenue?

Let's be honest though, every game is available this season in the UK one way or another. Either by stealing it (dodgy stick) or using a VPN and paying for it.

The one real change is that we'll probably have around 6 Saturday lunchtime kick-offs over the season. But season tickets will be sold before the fixtures are released.

If the new deal does have an effect I think it will be felt more in 2025/26 season.

So no "Mariners TV" next season for domestic viewers.

So you will have to watch through NOW TV if you are not a Sky Sports Subscriber already.

It could work out cheaper for some....

24hrs costs £11.99 - £1.99p more than "Mariners TV"

But at the moment it is only £26 for a month, so if you are going to watch 3 games or more in a month it works out cheaper.

That applies for every game that does not kick of on Saturdays at 15.00 (International Breakes excluded).

If you are out of the country on Saturdays I presume that you will still be able to streem 3pm games on "Mariners TV"

Quoted from Grantham_Mariner

So no "Mariners TV" next season for domestic viewers.

So you will have to watch through NOW TV if you are not a Sky Sports Subscriber already.

It could work out cheaper for some....

24hrs costs £11.99 - £1.99p more than "Mariners TV"

But at the moment it is only £26 for a month, so if you are going to watch 3 games or more in a month it works out cheaper.

That applies for every game that does not kick of on Saturdays at 15.00 (International Breakes excluded).

If you are out of the country on Saturdays I presume that you will still be able to streem 3pm games on "Mariners TV"

As an exile, I'm hoping I can get to see the games still.  If we only have access to Televised games that will be crap.  I don't have the choice of going to a live game. If I could, I would. Back to reading results online. Even Ceefax was more exciting as you waited for the page to change.

Quoted from Mayaman

As an exile, I'm hoping I can get to see the games still.  If we only have access to Televised games that will be crap.  I don't have the choice of going to a live game. If I could, I would. Back to reading results online. Even Ceefax was more exciting as you waited for the page to change.

Pretty sure they won't scrap the overseas package. The Sky deal is domestic; it's of no benefit to anyone to sack off the overseas deal and all the revenue that comes with it.

Quoted from Sky:
"From the 2024/25 season onward, this agreement makes more matches available to stream and will effectively replace the current Sky Sports EFL red button coverage and the EFL's domestic streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services. Domestic streaming audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences via iFollow and club streaming services."

Still the issue of VPNs for domestic viewing. Why pay Now TV more? I wonder if there'll be a crackdown on that?

Quoted from Townforlife

Quoted from Sky:
"From the 2024/25 season onward, this agreement makes more matches available to stream and will effectively replace the current Sky Sports EFL red button coverage and the EFL's domestic streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services. Domestic streaming audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences via iFollow and club streaming services."

Still the issue of VPNs for domestic viewing. Why pay Now TV more? I wonder if there'll be a crackdown on that?

That's on the assumption that it will be cheaper for exiles. I'd fully expect a big price increase for overseas streaming. Or have they already listed the price?

Quoted from Poojah

Pretty sure they won't scrap the overseas package. The Sky deal is domestic; it's of no benefit to anyone to sack off the overseas deal and all the revenue that comes with it.

As soon as they find an overseas partner iFollow will be ended. Next season will probably be the final season.

Quoted from Poojah

Pretty sure they won't scrap the overseas package. The Sky deal is domestic; it's of no benefit to anyone to sack off the overseas deal and all the revenue that comes with it.

Made my day Poojah.  As you often do, but usually with your well crafted anecdotes.

I wonder if Sky will show a game moved to 12.30 on a Saturday by the Police, or if the Police will have any infuence over Sky changing kick off times?