Sky/ESPN is an apalling deal, and all fans should boycott

[clubdeckcynic 0]

In simple black and white this deal is a total rip off, and may have dire concequences for the game in this country.

Not only have the clubs reduced the fee they could have had, had they taken the original £120M deal from Sky last time, instead of getting into bed with the disaster that was Setanta, but the average SPL football fan will have fork out nearly three times as much a month to watch what they would have had under the subscriptions in place the last few seasons.

So if you want to watch half of the 60 games + 4 old firm games you are paying around £21 a month for sky sports and if you want to pay for the remaining 30 games on ESPN, then you'll have to fork out between £9-£13 to get those every month on top of the sky fee.

So Sky and ESPN are making even more money in subscriptions than Setanta could have dreamed of, but only paying half the price to the clubs of the deal that was in place before the collapse of Setanta, so the fan is paying far more money for what will become a worse product because of the reduced TV investment.

I'm pretty furious. At not only the cost, but at the cowardly stupidity of the 9 clubs that voted for this proposal. And yes I realise that you are getting the premiership and Champions League on Sky also, but I never paid to watch those in previous seasons, just setanta to watch our away games. So I'm going to have to pay around £360 a year instead of £120 a year just to watch what I had the last time. I can't be the only one that is thinking this is a total rip off. I'd like to see Rangers encourage all our fans to refuse to pay this, as two fingers up to everyone who is complicit in shafting us, from the 9 members of the SPL who voted, to Sky/ESPN who are milking us for all that they can.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

I'm mainly with you but that would only devalue the rights further.

[BigSpliff 0]

personally speaking I dont really mind as I'm already on SS and was with Setanta.

But you have a fair point, feel sorry for everyone thats got to fork out a lot more for the same thing.

[BryanRfc 1]

im with you

[londonfan 0]

agree but what was the alternative, there was no way anyone else could have setup another channel this year (old firm tele) so either:

1-No tv rights (and no income) this year and hope to negotiate better next year (and hope it gets better) or

2-No tv rights (and no income) this year and setup our own channel next year and hope it gets better

[johnny123 5]

I totally agree about the fans being ripped off with this deal as I posted yesterday.

Don't think Rangers would encourage fans to boycott though.

[Thermopylae 15,288]

Well remember to be careful what you wish for because it might just happen ... we slagged setanta now we have this. Personally I will miss the freeview option because this new one seems a bit pricey for what is after all a pretty poor product ... but I suppose we are stuck with it

[dazzareyes 221]

tbh im not too fussed, i already pay for skysports so im happy that i get to watch 30 games without paying any extra.

and also safe in the knowledge that sky are 1 million times better broadcasters than setanta would ever have been.

i do think its a bit of a shocking deal for the guys that have to pay out extra, but as i say from a totally selfish point of view im glad sky got it as i already have it.

[RyanMac 185]

I totally agree with you, only if we made it public that we were boycotting it. Otherwise ESPN/Sky would see it as a bad investment. I have Sky but will be cancelling sports. I don't care about any other team in the world, never mind the SPL, and they and Sky/ESPN have to realise that it is us who make the money. We pay the subscriptions, therefore we theoretically hold the power.

Getting enough people to make a difference is a different matter, but we as a fan group have that potential.

I personally don't see it happening, and shall only stay as a thought. I've always been of the opinion that if we all(RM) sang from the same hymn sheet, then we could have great influence on the direction of our club.

In all honesty, this is probably the only time i would grudgingly work alongside celtic fans, to get the best for our team.

It's about time these teams realised that they wouldn't be in business without us.

[nvager 498]

Is Rangers Live going to be up and running or not?

[bluepeter 5,627]

I agree with the OP here. The rights would only be devalued if it was a silent boycott. If it was a noisy, organised protest, particularly if Rangers and Celtc got behind it, then Sky and Espn might renegotiate to attempt to get more subscribers on board.

I suppose the worry is that the SPL would then have a black mark against it which might put broadcasters off bidding in the future, but this deal is ripping the arse out of the SPL, and if no broadcaster will touch us, I'm sure Rangers and Celtc could come up with a decent package. It was time restrictions that stopeed them this time. Although the thought of working with Celtc in any way is pretty unpalatable, it could be what we need in this case.

[pcbear 10,932]

The exposure gained now on the Sky/ESPN platform should encourage better sponsorship deals which will offset the loss of the tv revenue, as the product will be seen in many many more locations.

I had Setanta on the freeveiw at 12 quid or thereabouts a month, if i want all of the games now i will have to get sky installed, bad deal for the club, bad deal for me.

[Thermopylae 15,288]

I'd rather we didn't associate too closely with septic in general and reid in particular ... can this character really have any credibility left after saying our troops may not even have to fire a shot in Afghanistan

[Bear 25]

I 100% understand peoples concerns. Lets look at the long term future. We are not always going to be in this recession. ESPN is a brilliant company to be involved (Disney own them) in and over the next few years they may get more involved with rangers and help advertise our club in the USA and Asia.

This is a potentialy brilliant tie up

[Tea_Total 20]

Just a thought but maybe it was because Setanta were undercharging that they got into financial difficulties. No one likes being ripped offbut perhaps Sky/ESPN have done their sums correct and realise that this is what must be charged to make ends meet.

[kplfishtank 4,747]

if you have sky the figure being quoted is 9 quid a month which is 1 less pint a week to watch gers away games

not bad considering we pay 33-36 quid for 1 trip to the san giro

[grahamteuchter 1]

boycotting will just de-value the league even more...i dont agree..it is not fair but its the same down south though with EPL games though..its an awfull deal but if the product improves then a better deal can be created

[clubdeckcynic 0]

Personally I was hoping for a version of SPL TV based on the Dutch model which was hugely successful, and saw an increase in crowds despite completely blanket coverage of every game, and of course much more of the money was going back into the clubs. The offer that the old firm were hoping to put forward could have been the beginning of something like this, and might have lifted out league out of the doldrums that it is currently ensconced. When you read the details of the dutch success it really makes you weep at how stupid and short sighted the other SPL clubs have been. Herald article on Dutch Football TV success

[Bear 25]

boycotting will just de-value the league even more...i dont agree..it is not fair but its the same down south though with EPL games though..its an awfull deal but if the product improves then a better deal can be created

Think about the long run mate, we are back in with Sky, ESPN are a class act and can help promote us. ESPN are owned by Disney, we could see Rangers shirts and gear being sold in the Disnesy parks, that can only be a brilliant thing rite? Right now it seems shit but if you actually think about the potential money these two companies could generate for us its a great deal IMO

[clubdeckcynic 0]

boycotting will just de-value the league even more...i dont agree..it is not fair but its the same down south though with EPL games though..its an awfull deal but if the product improves then a better deal can be created

Think about the long run mate, we are back in with Sky, ESPN are a class act and can help promote us. ESPN are owned by Disney, we could see Rangers shirts and gear being sold in the Disnesy parks, that can only be a brilliant thing rite? Right now it seems shit but if you actually think about the potential money these two companies could generate for us its a great deal IMO

The idea that there is this market of millions of people overseas waiting to buy our shirts always baffles me. Our profile is huge is our own country, and there are pockets of ex-pats across the world, but we are not a global brand like Man U, and never will be in the league set up that we are in. Yes there will be a little more exposure being on a higher profile channel, but the club are getting even less money than before, and conversely the fans are paying way more money than before, so the arguement that the exposure these channels give is is way worth it seems illogical, the only ones to make any money from this are the broadcasters, who the other 9 SPL clubs bent over and took a collective shafting up the ronson lighter on all our behalfs as they were scared shitless to be left with nothing, so sorry no I disagree, there is no benefit, long term or otherwise.

[Bear 25]

The idea that there is this market of millions of people overseas waiting to buy our shirts always baffles me. Our profile is huge is our own country, and there are pockets of ex-pats across the world, but we are not a global brand like Man U, and never will be in the league set up that we are in. Yes there will be a little more exposure being on a higher profile channel, but the club are getting even less money than before, and conversely the fans are paying way more money than before, so the arguement that the exposure these channels give is is way worth it seems illogical, the only ones to make any money from this are the broadcasters, who the other 9 SPL clubs bent over and took a collective shafting up the ronson lighter on all our behalfs as they were scared shitless to be left with nothing, so sorry no I disagree, there is no benefit, long term or otherwise.

Hence why i have used the word "potential" a few times mate.

I work in the Middle east and live in Thailand. I know fine well we are not a massive club like a lot of blind people seem to think we are and i know the mhankies are a far bigger club than Rangers around the World too unfortunantly.

I also said the word "future" Sky and ESPN will be testing the waters right now, if they see us as a potentail money maker for their business's then they will help market the Rangers brand around the globe.

We need to be patient and see what happens.

Also i doubt very much that ESPN will be showing Rangers game lives inj North America it will just be the UK and may be thier asian channels?

[clubdeckcynic 0]

The idea that there is this market of millions of people overseas waiting to buy our shirts always baffles me. Our profile is huge is our own country, and there are pockets of ex-pats across the world, but we are not a global brand like Man U, and never will be in the league set up that we are in. Yes there will be a little more exposure being on a higher profile channel, but the club are getting even less money than before, and conversely the fans are paying way more money than before, so the arguement that the exposure these channels give is is way worth it seems illogical, the only ones to make any money from this are the broadcasters, who the other 9 SPL clubs bent over and took a collective shafting up the ronson lighter on all our behalfs as they were scared shitless to be left with nothing, so sorry no I disagree, there is no benefit, long term or otherwise.

Hence why i have used the word "potential" a few times mate.

I work in the Middle east and live in Thailand. I know fine well we are not a massive club like a lot of blind people seem to think we are and i know the mhankies are a far bigger club than Rangers around the World too unfortunantly.

I also said the word "future" Sky and ESPN will be testing the waters right now, if they see us as a potentail money maker for their business's then they will help market the Rangers brand around the globe.

We need to be patient and see what happens.

Also i doubt very much that ESPN will be showing Rangers game lives inj North America it will just be the UK and may be thier asian channels?

Fair enough, I agree exposure is good, I'm just not that hopeful and optimistic that the channels in particular will see us a priority with the far more attractive English league as top draw across all their channels. The small glimmer of hope that I do have is that pehaps being back on sky might smooth the way for us to move into the premiership eventually.

[Tea_Total 20]

The idea that there is this market of millions of people overseas waiting to buy our shirts always baffles me. Our profile is huge is our own country, and there are pockets of ex-pats across the world, but we are not a global brand like Man U, and never will be in the league set up that we are in. Yes there will be a little more exposure being on a higher profile channel, but the club are getting even less money than before, and conversely the fans are paying way more money than before, so the arguement that the exposure these channels give is is way worth it seems illogical, the only ones to make any money from this are the broadcasters, who the other 9 SPL clubs bent over and took a collective shafting up the ronson lighter on all our behalfs as they were scared shitless to be left with nothing, so sorry no I disagree, there is no benefit, long term or otherwise.

Hence why i have used the word "potential" a few times mate.

I work in the Middle east and live in Thailand. I know fine well we are not a massive club like a lot of blind people seem to think we are and i know the mhankies are a far bigger club than Rangers around the World too unfortunantly.

I also said the word "future" Sky and ESPN will be testing the waters right now, if they see us as a potentail money maker for their business's then they will help market the Rangers brand around the globe.

We need to be patient and see what happens.

Also i doubt very much that ESPN will be showing Rangers game lives inj North America it will just be the UK and may be thier asian channels?

Fair enough, I agree exposure is good, I'm just not that hopeful and optimistic that the channels in particular will see us a priority with the far more attractive English league as top draw across all their channels. The small glimmer of hope that I do have is that pehaps being back on sky might smooth the way for us to move into the premiership eventually.

Exposure is one thing but we also need to market ourselves. As long as we are tied to JJB this will be very difficult. A local football (soccer) shop in Orlando approached members of our RSC asking if there was any way we could help them bring in Rangers merchandise to sell in the states. They had approached JJB and were told they had to pay retail price plus shipping and handling costs, making it not a viable proposition. Lots of American kids are now buying European tops. Unfortunately from Scotland only the green and grey is available. With Edu and Beasley in our team we are certainly not marketing our product well.

[BoltonLoyal 2]

Like Bigspliff, i also have sports package and had Setanta until it went tits up.

The difference to me will be minimal.

I do agree for those who have to shell out for the full sky package it represents a pretty hefty hike in fees, but i'm sure your local dodgy cable box / Dreambox guy could offer you some alternatives

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

ESPN has already reached an agreement for its coverage to be retailed by Sky to residential and commercial customers. ESPN is also in discussions with other Pay-TV platforms in the UK for the ESPN channel.

Other important news that isn't so well covered.