12 May 2016 12:57:15
BT sport are to show both European finals free to air. Decent gesture that, it's an outrage that so much football and sport in general is subscription only. This makes a welcome change. Credit where it's due I think.

1.) 12 May 2016
12 May 2016 13:32:48
It's a desperate effort to keep hold of European football. Champions league and Europa league viewing figures have plummeted since ITV lost the tele rights.

They will lose it next season regardless though in my opinion. Sponsors won't be happy. A prime example is the Man City vs Real Madrid game which got just 800,000 views apparently. A similar game on ITV fetched closer to 4,000,000 viewed.

2.) 12 May 2016
12 May 2016 13:24:48
fair call. we have been screwed royally in australia by a blind bidding process which means the only people that have access have to have a mobile contract or broadband by that provider. they will lose hundreds of thousands of viewers to the league ( at lease legitimate paying ones) to piracy or to other sports. really don't understand that thinking of just selling to the highest bidder? surely there has to be more thought process to develop the league even wider ( and get more revenue long term) or are they just trying to grab what they can before any potential breakaway leagues? any thoughts eds?

{Ed002's Note - The money is driving most of this unfortunately. I did not know about the Australia deal but it sounds rough. Rougher is the deal Australia got over the 2022 world cup which they rightfully should have been hosting.}

3.) 13 May 2016
13 May 2016 01:49:03
Swish that's rubbish, Foxtel shows every prem league game live, plus the a league among others and the 3 bein sports channels give u la liga, ligue 1, serie a, bundesliga, championship, English league 1, Scottish prem, plus all champs league, Europa league, then between fox sports, espn, and bein, every international match is shown live.

None of it needs broadband or mobile contracts, it's all Foxtel for $15 a month, we have it the best in the world when it comes to cost vs coverage of football, I pay about £35 a month just for prem games when I'm home in the uk.

{Ed007's Note - £35 for every EPL mach live in the UK doesn't sound legit to me and I'm a wild eyed,, crazy assed, kiss stealing, streaming MOFO!
If you mean Sly/Ed004TV (or VirginTV as it's commonly known) you get a lot more football than just EPL for your subscription.}

4.) 13 May 2016
13 May 2016 07:22:33
Yeah, what Swish is referring to is Optus, who is Australia's second largest telecommunications and internet broadband company. I happen to be one of the lucky ones that is a contracted Optus customer (I'm a mobile customer), but the whole situation is just a farcical disgrace. EPL is pretty popular in Australia, so the morons at Optus have decided to take advantage of that popularity by winning EPL rights and making it exclusive to their own customers. They don't give a crap about sport, all they care about is getting more people to use their telecommunications and internet services for non-EPL reasons. Of course Foxtel made you pay as well, but they never forced you into a situation of going through the massive inconvenience of also having to terminate pre-existing internet or mobile plans. Also, not too many Optus EPL subscribers are going to stop paying for and using Foxtel - and Optus knew that - which means they're just unashamedly making the cost of living much higher for a lot of ordinary people.

In this new day and age where entertainment platforms and distribution are becoming more innovative and modern for consumers, this Optus deal is looks archaic. They've bid a record sum for a service they don't even have the proper infrastructure for. I really hope it crashes and burns for Optus, just like it has for BT Sport.

5.) 13 May 2016
13 May 2016 11:07:42
I will find out who it's through 007, the fam usually just has standard Freeview shite, when I get home I get my sis to get it sorted before I get there so I'm not sure if it's part of another package or if it's standalone. Speaking of which I better get it sorted as they want me home before we head to France for the euros. Who do you use 007? I don't stream it I know that much, it's a sat telly thing I think.

{Ed007's Note - I've got a minimum VirginTV package and stream my football and movies through an android box I bought. I used to be £128 a month for my TV, phone and internet but now it's about £62 a month, and that's 2 TivoHD boxes. The only reason we kept the boxes is it's easier for the wife to use watching the rubbish that women do.}

6.) 13 May 2016
13 May 2016 22:29:28
Swish, I've only just read about the Optus deal in regards to the epl, what a farce. Not only have they taken it away from a majority of people they will send themselves bankrupt in the process. According to Optus themselves anyone currently not with Optus and in particular Telstra and Foxtel are not to be provided a service, so u can't cancel say your Telstra mobile and switch to Optus to gain the epl. It's an utter disgrace how it's been allowed to happen, but then I don't understand or care for many of Australia's ways of doing things, but this in particular can't be good for anyone.