Televised games next season - has it been sorted yet?

[gingerjon]

11 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

[3] Can't quite get my head around the fact that Sky have been given the whole kaboodle , every game, for less money. Isn't it a tad embarrassing that rights have to be given away to C4 last season. Poor poor governance of the game.

Also just realised,  though it was in plain sight, 5.30 Saturday in competition with the EPL, last season C4 Saturday lunchtime at 12.45 in competition with the EPL, Monday night on viaplay,  Championship in competition with the EPL. Coincidence? Just seems odd, can't believe the broadcaster or the game would want that,  any ideas why ?

Virtually all sports rights have gone down in value in real terms and there are examples from other sports of rights being essentially given away in return for coverage. The number of sports begging the BBC for coverage and yet they've gone for rugby league - I'll happily take that.

There are EPL kick offs on Friday evening, Saturday lunchtime, Saturday evening, Saturday late evening, Sunday early, Sunday late and Monday evening. Good luck finding a time you want that doesn't clash, at least some of the time, with football.

[Futtocks]

33 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

[3] Can't quite get my head around the fact that Sky have been given the whole kaboodle , every game, for less money. Isn't it a tad embarrassing that rights have to be given away to C4 last season. Poor poor governance of the game.

Also just realised,  though it was in plain sight, 5.30 Saturday in competition with the EPL, last season C4 Saturday lunchtime at 12.45 in competition with the EPL, Monday night on viaplay,  Championship in competition with the EPL. Coincidence? Just seems odd, can't believe the broadcaster or the game would want that,  any ideas why ?

Times are tight, and RL has gained extra coverage, Sky taking on the production and broadcasting costs of those extra games and also ceding much of its pitchside advertising for the clubs to sell to whoever they can, which should be boosted by the increased exposure.

Given the economic climate and the spiralling prices paid for Association Football, other sports are doing it tougher.

[RigbyLuger]

2 hours ago, HawkMan said:

[3] Can't quite get my head around the fact that Sky have been given the whole kaboodle , every game, for less money. Isn't it a tad embarrassing that rights have to be given away to C4 last season. Poor poor governance of the game.

Also just realised,  though it was in plain sight, 5.30 Saturday in competition with the EPL, last season C4 Saturday lunchtime at 12.45 in competition with the EPL, Monday night on viaplay,  Championship in competition with the EPL. Coincidence? Just seems odd, can't believe the broadcaster or the game would want that,  any ideas why ?

The production costs Sky are taking on, means other broadcasters can pay for the rights and take that factor into account, and also means we might be able to make some money on streaming them. 

As for the times against football or anything else, there are no clear spots for RL to be against no football at all. Same for every sport. You'd have to ask Viaplay why they chose Monday nights, and whether they got value for nothing from those rights.

[Spidey]

4 hours ago, gingerjon said:

There are EPL kick offs on Friday evening, Saturday lunchtime, Saturday evening, Saturday late evening, Sunday early, Sunday late and Monday evening. Good luck finding a time you want that doesn't clash, at least some of the time, with football.

What’s worse? Clashing with football or clashing with other RL games?

[Dave T]

7 hours ago, Spidey said:

What’s worse? Clashing with football or clashing with other RL games?

Based on the first couple of rounds, we have many games that are standalone, plus some which clash with other SL games. 

Sky and RL will learn quite quickly the impact of clashes. 

Round 1 sees us use 4 different slots (Thurs, Fri and Sat x2) 

Round 2 sees us use 5 different slots (Thurs, Fri, Sat x 2 and Sun). 

I really quite like the schedule and would be OK if this became the format longer term. Having unique slots for many games, but then a choice on a Friday night works imo. It creates a guaranteed quality SL night on the Friday. 

 

[Spidey]

21 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Based on the first couple of rounds, we have many games that are standalone, plus some which clash with other SL games. 

Sky and RL will learn quite quickly the impact of clashes. 

Round 1 sees us use 4 different slots (Thurs, Fri and Sat x2) 

Round 2 sees us use 5 different slots (Thurs, Fri, Sat x 2 and Sun). 

I really quite like the schedule and would be OK if this became the format longer term. Having unique slots for many games, but then a choice on a Friday night works imo. It creates a guaranteed quality SL night on the Friday. 

 

That wasn’t the point. A poster was complaining about clashing with Football. Surely that’s irrelevant if we’re clashing against our own games to begin with

[Harry Stottle]

On 14/01/2024 at 08:22, M j M said:

Clubs will still most likely choose the kick off time that maximises crowds and in-stadium revenue. The impact of a change in TV viewership when averaged over a season is going to be negligible.

Now call me a pessimist, but I can't see how it will entice many new or lapsed fans through the gates either.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

That wasn’t the point. A poster was complaining about clashing with Football. Surely that’s irrelevant if we’re clashing against our own games to begin with

Only if you think clashing with your own games is an issue. Many sports clash with their own games. 

[Chrispmartha]

53 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Now call me a pessimist, but I can't see how it will entice many new or lapsed fans through the gates either.

You're a pessimist 

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, Chrispmartha said:

You're a pessimist 

For years Chris we have had our game televised, has it really encouraged more to actually attend, the common denominator is people will still follow the club that they have an affinity to if they are doing well.

 

[Fly-By-TheWire]

Does anyone know if one can buy Sky Sports as a standalone package?   Or do you have to have the basic Sky stuff then have sports only as an add-on?

I don't really want Sky at all, but I'd be interested in the Sports package alone as long as I have the facility to record all the games and watch at my leisure.   I've done Now TV for the last few years, but you can't record anything, which means I can only really use it when I'm not working (and I'm usually working when games are on).

[Nothus]

1 hour ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Does anyone know if one can buy Sky Sports as a standalone package?   Or do you have to have the basic Sky stuff then have sports only as an add-on?

I don't really want Sky at all, but I'd be interested in the Sports package alone as long as I have the facility to record all the games and watch at my leisure.   I've done Now TV for the last few years, but you can't record anything, which means I can only really use it when I'm not working (and I'm usually working when games are on).

So a few years ago Sky Sports split their available packages up depending on which sports you were interested in. So if you only cared about RL, you could pay for specific sports channels - I believe this is Action and Arena. You didn't need any of the others because these were the only channels (apart from Mix which is free) on which the games were aired.

 

I'm actually not sure how this works with the new broadcasting deal. Does anyone know? I'm assuming the games currently listed as airing on Main Event will also air on Action or Arena at the same time?

[Chrispmartha]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

For years Chris we have had our game televised, has it really encouraged more to actually attend, the common denominator is people will still follow the club that they have an affinity to if they are doing well.

 

The role of the sport being on TV isn't necessarily about getting people through the turnstiles, so your argument is a bit of a non sequitur 

[Fly-By-TheWire]

41 minutes ago, Nothus said:

So a few years ago Sky Sports split their available packages up depending on which sports you were interested in. So if you only cared about RL, you could pay for specific sports channels - I believe this is Action and Arena. You didn't need any of the others because these were the only channels (apart from Mix which is free) on which the games were aired.

 

I'm actually not sure how this works with the new broadcasting deal. Does anyone know? I'm assuming the games currently listed as airing on Main Event will also air on Action or Arena at the same time?

Thanks.   Would I still have to purchase the basic Sky package?   I know in the old days you could only get Sky Sports if you had the entertainment channels like Sky One etc.

I was just hoping to get the Sports package for about $25 a month all in, with the option to record games.

[Click]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

For years Chris we have had our game televised, has it really encouraged more to actually attend, the common denominator is people will still follow the club that they have an affinity to if they are doing well.

 

How does someone in the South, or non-local start following a club that they could only watch 3/4 times a year on TV?

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Thanks.   Would I still have to purchase the basic Sky package?   I know in the old days you could only get Sky Sports if you had the entertainment channels like Sky One etc.

I was just hoping to get the Sports package for about $25 a month all in, with the option to record games.

You still need to get their basic package which is about £26. Then £20 for Sky Sports on top of that so £46 with an 18 month contract. You may get it cheaper with a better deal.

[Cheadle Leyther]

As it stands per the printed fixture list in the League Express, 19 of the 27 rounds are showing 3 games or more on a Friday night. 
This obsession with Friday night games really annoys me as a Leigh fan as it means we always have to miss watching the live Sky match that night. Of the 13 home matches allocated, there are 11 on Friday, 1 on Thursday, 1 on Saturday afternoon but not 1 on a Sunday.

So if in future if TV demands lead to changes away from Friday nights, then so be it!

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

As it stands per the printed fixture list in the League Express, 19 of the 27 rounds are showing 3 games or more on a Friday night. 
This obsession with Friday night games really annoys me as a Leigh fan as it means we always have to miss watching the live Sky match that night. Of the 13 home matches allocated, there are 11 on Friday, 1 on Thursday, 1 on Saturday afternoon but not 1 on a Sunday.

So if in future if TV demands lead to changes away from Friday nights, then so be it!

As things stand, SL has:

Thurs - 10 matches

Fri - 78 matches

Sat - 51 matches

Sun - 23 matches

Fridays are the new Sundays - top flight RL is no longer a Sunday afternoon sport, and in reality, it hasn't been for a while. There will be 74 matches across Sat/Sun though which is a positive for me. Although I do expect to see more Thursdays announced as the season goes on.

[Chrispmartha]

Personally i prefer Friday nights.

I don’t know about other clubs but I believe Leeds Corporate is far higher on a Friday night and this brings in a lot of money, they won’t want to change that.

[graveyard johnny]

8 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

You're a pessimist 

I was gonna go to the pessimist society meeting tonight but then thought it would prob have been cancelled

[Leyther_Matt]

Friday nights for me too. The trend over the last few years of more and more Saturday 3pm games during the football season has been a bugbear of mine. 

[Dave T]

11 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Friday nights for me too. The trend over the last few years of more and more Saturday 3pm games during the football season has been a bugbear of mine. 

I think nothing will please everyone, it's all personal preference. 

I like afternoon games because I can take my 7 year old with me, but 8pm kick offs on any night exclude young kids, and people who can't or won't get babysitters. 

But, that's my challenge, it's a numbers game, they won't make everyone happy and if that means I become a tv fan, so be it. 

[Chrispmartha]

Very interesting.

Super League + is the new ‘our League’

Sounds pretty good too.

[Northern Eel]

Just trying to get my head around this.

Sky Sports subscribers can watch all games each week?

Super League + subscribers can watch all but the 2 main Sky pick games each week?

Or do I misunderstand the offer for current sky subscribers?

It looks like the Super League + subscription will sit between £10.99 and £17.99 per month.

[Chrispmartha]

5 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Just trying to get my head around this.

Sky Sports subscribers can watch all games each week?

Super League + subscribers can watch all but the 2 main Sky pick games each week?

Or do I misunderstand the offer for current sky subscribers?

It looks like the Super League + subscription will sit between £10.99 and £17.99 per month.

It’s not very clear from that article but I think what its saying is for the first 15 rounds all 6 games will be on actual Sky channels but this will change when Skys Streaming service is up and running.

Super League + will be streaming all 6 games from the start of the season?

I think.

Anyway taking a cut in fee from Sky but getting them to pay for the broadcast cost whilst the RFL can sell those games elsewhere might actually have been a stroke of genius