Filed under: Premier League, Football
So, with great fanfare, we learn of the first chunk of Premier League games to be televised live this season, and once again, when it comes to disruption for long-suffering supporters, our favourite satellite broadcasters have proved that the Sky's the limit.A veritable feast of football for the armchair aficionado, pub pundit and bar-room bore, those content to watch from a distance, no doubt - rightly - frightened off by the increasingly ridiculous admission charges posted by many clubs this season. Shall we go and see Queen's Park Rangers? That'll be up to £60, depending on the opposition.
Amid all the hype of the ground-breaking, all-singing, all dancing high-definition coverage, the inconvenience to followers of just about every top flight club seems to have been conveniently brushed aside, even though it is the paying public who help Sky and their like to flog their product to advertisers in the shape of adding to the spectacle by providing full houses and an atmosphere to match.
Yes, we know the clubs are recompensed handsomely for the inconvenience of having a match or two shifted, but not so the people who help provide a significant contribution to their income, although clearly not enough to have any clout when it comes to the scheduling of games.
It's not just Sky we're talking about here, either. Their partners in crime ESPN are appear to be similarly insensitive to the needs of the paying public in the games they have cherry-picked to cover live, although their culpability is mitigated by avoiding the notorious Monday night slot.
Swansea fans are no doubt looking forward to their first ever game in the Premier League, one which takes them to Manchester City. Originally down for Saturday, August 13, it's now been pushed back to the Monday night, to no doubt dampen the enthusiasm of any Swans fan contemplating the trip North.
Now it's a case of for many trying to arrange time off work in addition to the 300-plus mile round-trip, the return leg all after dark, a task many will still no doubt undertake, but the logistical difficulties of the change mean that many will simply not be able to play their small place in a significant slice of the Welsh club's history.
Supporters are happy for their club to take Sky's golden shilling to largely fund the influx of big-name, big wage players, so they have no place to moan when they are put out by the whim of the broadcaster, who pays top dollar to have the Premier League at its beck and call. Right?
Maybe so, but the powers that be might sit up and listen if supporters started to vote with their feet by refusing to attend the more ludicrously re-scheduled games. Not that they will, of course.
There are too many happy to grin and accept it in the knowledge that if they aren't there in person, someone else will be. Fans under-estimate the effectiveness of collective action to their own detriment.
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