SLO_BFC
Well-known member
In normal times, a League One club such as Blackpool wouldn’t attract the likes of Everton to Bloomfield Road in a pre-season friendly. Big Premier League clubs would probably be playing their warm-up games in the USA or Asia, growing their international fan base. But in the year of Coronavirus that’s not possible. Partly for that reason, but also partly because of the credibility of Neil Critchley and the new BFC management team, it’s to Blackpool’s advantage that we entertain Everton tomorrow and will get a chance to see how the Seasiders shape up against Carlo Ancelloti’s very capable squad.
Also in normal times, such a mouth-watering pre-season encounter would attract a good number of fans paying something like £10-£15 per head. But because of Covid-19 the game must be played behind closed doors.
As part of the Everton deal, Blackpool FC agreed that Everton’s media company would handle the screening of the game. They are bringing their full production team and their coverage will be as good as that on any professional sports channel, with pre-match build-up, full commentary, 6 camera coverage, action replays, half-time and post-match analysis – in terms of what that offers, several levels above Blackpool’s streaming of the Southport, Vale and Barrow fixtures. It is competitively priced (compared to i-Follow) to cover production costs and Blackpool FC feels that it provides great value, especially if you watch in a bubble of family or friends.
There has been some adverse criticism of the planned coverage, partly based on a mistaken idea that Everton season ticket holders will be able to watch it for free, partly on the fact that it will not be streamed abroad, meaning our overseas fans miss out.
I believe the stream is only free to Everton Club members, who pay something like an additional £50 per season for the privilege. Everton season ticket holders who are not Everton Club members will still have to pay £5.99 to watch, like everyone else. Also, because Everton’s contract with its media company is long-standing, the media company has the rights to sell footage abroad and that clause limits the live-streaming of tomorrow’s game to the UK only.
Those are the facts as I understand them. My personal view is that Everton and Blackpool football clubs are working well together to provide quality coverage for tomorrow’s game and it will make for excellent viewing. However, such a professional job comes at a cost and the clubs are simply pricing the pay-per-view rate so as to cover that production costs.
I hope this makes good sense to everybody who has been expressing criticism of the package. I think it will be an exciting afternoon and I take it as another sign that the club wants to give its fans the best connection to the club that it possibly can in these extraordinary times.
Steve Rowland, SLO
Also in normal times, such a mouth-watering pre-season encounter would attract a good number of fans paying something like £10-£15 per head. But because of Covid-19 the game must be played behind closed doors.
As part of the Everton deal, Blackpool FC agreed that Everton’s media company would handle the screening of the game. They are bringing their full production team and their coverage will be as good as that on any professional sports channel, with pre-match build-up, full commentary, 6 camera coverage, action replays, half-time and post-match analysis – in terms of what that offers, several levels above Blackpool’s streaming of the Southport, Vale and Barrow fixtures. It is competitively priced (compared to i-Follow) to cover production costs and Blackpool FC feels that it provides great value, especially if you watch in a bubble of family or friends.
There has been some adverse criticism of the planned coverage, partly based on a mistaken idea that Everton season ticket holders will be able to watch it for free, partly on the fact that it will not be streamed abroad, meaning our overseas fans miss out.
I believe the stream is only free to Everton Club members, who pay something like an additional £50 per season for the privilege. Everton season ticket holders who are not Everton Club members will still have to pay £5.99 to watch, like everyone else. Also, because Everton’s contract with its media company is long-standing, the media company has the rights to sell footage abroad and that clause limits the live-streaming of tomorrow’s game to the UK only.
Those are the facts as I understand them. My personal view is that Everton and Blackpool football clubs are working well together to provide quality coverage for tomorrow’s game and it will make for excellent viewing. However, such a professional job comes at a cost and the clubs are simply pricing the pay-per-view rate so as to cover that production costs.
I hope this makes good sense to everybody who has been expressing criticism of the package. I think it will be an exciting afternoon and I take it as another sign that the club wants to give its fans the best connection to the club that it possibly can in these extraordinary times.
Steve Rowland, SLO
