Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Tottenham: UK Fans Can See All Premier League Games, For a Cost

By Aaron Coe

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: A general view inside of the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League play-off match between Tottenham Hotspur and Maccabi Haifa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: A general view inside of the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League play-off match between Tottenham Hotspur and Maccabi Haifa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 01, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With the pandemic impacting bottom lines for companies, overreach for making up lost funds has hit football and fans of Tottenham and other clubs will pay.

I get it, not all the games can be shown every week. NBCsports did it for a season or so, enough to get viewers in the States and have slowly put more and more games behind a paywall ever since. If you wanted to see all the games last season it was NBCSportsGold, now NBC is leveraging the Premier League to get people like me to purchase the ‘pay’ version of Peacock.

Well if we thought NBC was a bit greedy, enter Sky Sports and BT Sports Box Office. The two companies share the rights to the Premier League in the UK. Previously, five matches per week were available, meaning five matches per week were not. Now with Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and other pitches closed to fans, the money grab can begin.

Whereas the EFL is allowing lower tier teams to stream their own matches, hence watching Tottenham play Watford on HIVE in the preseason; Premier League sides do not have that option. Rather the rights to the matches belong to the BPL, Sky, and BT. As such they have the ‘right’ to ask fans to pony up more cash to watch the matches they want to see.

While the Premier League did NOT state how much these matches will cost in their announcement of the plan, the rumors circling on the internet reflect a cost of £14.99 per match. This cost is on top of the £46/month to get Sky to begin with and another £13 if you want BT Sports according to newsopener. This means fans could be looking at an additional £60/month if they want to see all four matches between the international breaks.

Now as for who will have to pay and who will not to see their teams, that is still in the process of being fully decided, although Sky and BT did say all previously announced televised matches will still be on tv. In other words, if you were already planning on watching you are ok, if you were not as it was not going to be broadcast, now you can pony up some loot and watch the festivities.

This is a difficult situation for clubs and fans alike. The clubs need the gate revenue for the tickets that are not being sold, however, many fans have lost jobs or are underemployed as a result of the ongoing pandemic. In other words, while clubs need the cash and Sky can make the grab, that does not mean all the fans have the cash to drop.

It will be interesting to see over the coming months how the League, teams, and tv continue to handle the situation as gate receipts are lost and companies try to find ways to make up lost revenue. The ultimate loser here is the fan, as that revenue will have to come from us. While maybe someone can now see a match they previously could not have seen, at £14.99 per match, how many are really going to buy?

I guess I should be happy I am in the states where NBC is still only making me buy Peacock to watch Tottenham, at least for now.