As a general rule it’s fair to say that most football fans will happily pay good money to watch their team play – they know it helps the club to grow and in theory that will help to improve what they see on the field.
The problem is that a lot of people are beginning to feel increasingly exploited, so a shameless money grab in the middle of a global pandemic when most of us are fighting just to stay in employment is never going to go down well.
Paying for the likes of Sky and BT Sport is already expensive so the decision to charge extra for most games was horrible to see, plus it’s a fairly flimsy business plan when you can find a free stream with ease.
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The reaction from the fans has been incredible with many proving it’s about the principle rather than the money as they’ve raised thousands for good causes, while it sounds like the boycott has been successful in terms of embarrassing the league.
A report from The Mirror makes for satisfying reading, as it’s suggested that the league is now considering a dramatic U-turn after just a couple of weeks due to “embarrassingly” low numbers.
It’s suggested that the game between Burnley and West Brom attracted the worst ever figures, with some reports online indicating that the number of viewers was in the low hundreds for that one.
It’s also interesting to see that everyone is trying to blame each other for the mess here, with the broadcasters claiming they were not in favour and didn’t set the prices so they are worried they’ve been left to look like the bad guys.
There are suggestions that one of the options might simply be to reduce the price which would be a pathetic half-way house that pleases nobody.
Either way something will need to be done, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the Premier League tries to spin this one as a success.