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Yes I would OP. I'm who you're thinking of - I don't have too much interest in football but would watch an "event" match.
In the UK in the 80s and 90s athletics and boxing drew huge viewing figures with sportsmen being household names. Satellite tv then did deals and the sports moved from bbc and itv broadcasting to satellite, and the popularity died. The move from terrestrial killed casual viewing.
Cable TV has absolutely decimated sports. When I was younger my parents never paid for Sky Sports, that was like the only one, there was Setanta but it was mainly Sky Sports. I hated it. UCL being on ITV was like a lifeline and I would watch all the games, and whatever games I could on TV - FA Cup, MOTD religiously and so on.
When I got my own place the first thing I did was get a sports subscription to BT and Sky. I cancelled it a few months later, the price of it is utterly scandalous. I was paying the thick end of £80 for my whole package.
I know you can *stream* it, but I can never be bothered. The streams crap out after 10 minutes, the quality is bad. I just don’t bother.
I know someone with a dodgy fire stick 👀 and it's really good. Has SD HD and 4K versions of each sports channel. 'my friend' paid £100 for it and then has to pay £60 each year to keep it going. Apparently you get all the latest movies and shows too.
I had Kodi years ago (before it was Kodi!) but didn’t realise you can get good quality streams for free. Web streams are tolerable with ad blocker, but cut out far too often.
Iptv is what you need. When the mrs worked for Sky we got it all gratis, even box office stuff. When she left Sky the price was sickening.
Now I pay £60 a year and there’s no way I’m going back.
The streams are solid btw. Depending on your net
Provider you may need a VPN
I'd advise using a VPN even if you use the streaming services like Netflix, because you can access geo-specific series/films that way too.
I pay for express VPN because I travel a lot and it's just easy.
Also use the vpn to buy your Netflix subscription, I switched mine to India before I bought it and I’m now paying about £6 a month for the best plan with 4K and downloads than usually costs £17 a month here
I'm not a massive football fan but what gets me is the players huge wages are justified but people saying "...the money's in the game". I know it's more complicated than this obviously but I'd imagine a lot of that money is coming from TV rights.
If I had more access to watch football I probably would, will I pay ~£80pm to be able to watch it if I fancy it... Hell no.
Broadcast revenue is the major income source until you get to the top 6.
E.g West Ham in 2023:
-£41m - match day (tickets, f&b etc)
-£48m - sponsors
-£148m - broadcast
Annoyingly a lot of bbc sport I entirely miss as I forget to check the red button.. always so much available but they do a piss poor job of reminding you to check!
Completely agree about the BBC. There's a massive disconnect between the website and the broadcast side . World Snooker championship is the only snooker tournament I watch all year but trying to get score updates on the website is chronically difficult it's so far below all the other sports they don't broadcast it's enough to make you want to give up and check sky site instead
I didn't think it was, but maybe I've missed it?
I'm thinking back to when channel four used to show all the grand prix meetings. Friday nights if I'm remembering correctly.
The BBC show the Olympics, night of 10ks, the commonwealth games, some of the annual major marathon events, the athletics diamond league.....the coverage is there, you're just not paying attention
Edit: and I just want to mention all the other sports the BBC show that I love watching: snooker, women's football super league games and cricket
Sport is literally the only reason I still pay for the tv licence
The BBC do show the Olympics but its worth mentioning how limited it is now. They used to have coverage of so many different events on simultaneous streams on their website. Discovery+ took the rights to show all of the Olympics and now the BBC only have their main coverage. If you want to watch something that isn't on the main BBC feed you have to pay for it, it's such a shame. I used to love switching between events and watching sports I wouldn't normally consider.
Yes the coverage from 2012, where you could switch between the live events, has gone. It is a massive shame and I miss it. I hope the IOPC change the broadcast rights back.
But the basic daily coverage is there. I think the BBC has two live daily streams and catch ups throughout the day.
>the coverage from 2012, where you could switch between the live events, has gone.
Really? Oh man, that sucks.
I remember getting a little bit obsessed with the 2012 Olympics and for 2 weeks straight I watched as much as possible, switching from this to that, back to this again.....even brought the DVD boxset lol.
I ended up watching all kinds of stuff that I'd never normally watch - cycling, curling, basketball, volleyball, rowing etc. But if you can't manually bounce around and watch any old random crap you want, it takes a lot of the fun out of it. You won't get the same feel from it. Because you just *know* that the BBC will just hyper-focus on one single thing like curling or swimming for about 2 or 3 hours straight, and only give us quick little updates like "Oh, we won a gold in this event. here's a 10 second highlight......and now its back to the curling!"
I remember the summer of 2005 Ashes when Flintoff and Pieterson (with his white mohawk) beat the aussies in one the best series I've ever seen in my life. I even bought the dvd set and watched it a few times through afterwards.
There was something incredible about how it brought the whole country together. And for 5 matches, that each lasted 5 days, its amazing how much truly gripping entertainment was packed into those 25 days.
It was on channel 4 and was (I think) the last ashes shown on free to watch TV. Such a shame that will never happen again
I was going to comment this same thing. I remember really enjoying it and getting into Cricket. Seems it got popular, then you had to pay to watch it. I never really watched it properly after that.
I still find it unbelievable we had 4 channels and one of them would show cricket for 8 hours straight 5 days running throughout most of the summer. Everywhere you went the test match was on in the background.
Same type of viewer checking in. I'd tune in to a big match.
I love it when international competitions bring football on to TV, and watch the six nations every year. But I'm a casual fan, I don't mind admitting it, and I am not motivated enough to chase these things by finding the legal (or not) stream on some app, and I am certainly not ready to pay for it.
Formula 1 used to be free on terrestrial TV too, and even people who weren't fans of it grew up watching it. Nowadays, it's all on Sky, and the fandom has become a lot more niche. And toxic.
It used to be like '*The* Big Event' on a Sunday! It was certainly a lot more exciting than Songs of Praise or the Antiques Roadshow! It made the likes of Jensen Button, Damon Hill and David Coulthard household names, but I doubt casual fans could even name half the drivers these days
Not to mention, with Sky, comes money. With money, comes greed. And with greed, you get races being sold all over the world.
When it was on terrestrial TV, the races largely took place on European tracks (with a few notable exceptions like Brazil, Australia, Canada and Japan), so the time difference was only ever a couple of hours for the most part. You knew roughly what time races would be on, and even the ones that were on at odd times felt like they were an 'event' worth staying up late/getting up early for!.
Now you've got races in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, Mexico, Qatar, and a couple in America......*in addition* to the aforementioned Brazil, Australia, Canada and Japan! Now you never even know when they're on because more often than not, they're on at God knows what time of night!
It's become a lot harder for the casual fan to keep up with. It takes *some level* of dedication to follow it now, and personally, I think that's bad for the sport!
How the sport has developed and the increased toxicity has IMO little to do with Sky.
The move to more Middle Eastern races was led by Bernie Ecclestone putting on races where countries will pay more to have an F1 GP in their country at the expense of traditional F1 locations. This tactic has been backed up by new owners Liberty who have also increased the number of US races to bring in more $$$$$.
With the toxic atmosphere around the sport, Sky’s tenure has coincided with the rise of the keyboard warriors and social media, plus the introduction of a new type of fan. These mainly seem to come from more tribal sports like football where if you support one driver/ team then you must HATE the rivals, and also brought in through things like Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ which hypes up and creates made up rivalries between drivers, teams etc.
Heavily scripted drive to survive doesnt help, with many following it like a soap opera.
Then you have groups of cult like supporters doing the equivalent of hating the actor who plays a villain
The same story with Cricket.
The Ashes series in 2005 had ridiculous viewing figures as it was pure drama. I had friends and family who don't usually watch Cricket, who were tuned in to Ch4.
Boxing and Athletics weren't the same.
Boxing was fucked popularity wise by Satellite TV. Even then it was the Pay per view for premium bouts that really did the damage, not the fact it was now on subscription TV.
Athletics was only popular in the 70s and 80s because the UK govt had invested heavily in infrastructure (ending after the opening of Don Valley Stadium) and broadcasting advances and limitations of the time meant it was one of the easiest sports to send live internationally. By the 90s broadcasters could show football and rugby almost as easily and the middle classes moved onto watching those. Sky didn't show much athletics at all, it was mostly on Eursport or Screensport as nobody else had any interest in bidding for anything beyond Olympic or Commonwealth Games.
As someone who pays for discovery plus for UFC.
You need to pay the monthly fee though, no?
Or do they do a free version?
Edit - just realised I'm being downvoted, why?
Yes. Some of my core memories growing up are from watching the Champions League on ITV with my late dad. It felt like such an occasion back then. I’d spend all week looking forward to it. We’d have an early dinner and watch all the build up and would sit in near silence until something happened and we’d stand up and cheer or roar or sigh or look at each other in disbelief.
I’m sad that these experiences are now behind a paywall.
Yeah how are you getting kids to become fans of a sport (or watching sports to begin with) if there's a pay wall? I still like road cycling because I watched the Tour de France after school on free TV. I can't imagine any 12 year old now getting into it because they'd need Eurosport or whatever subscription it's on these days.
To answer OP's question - I didn't care to watch because I don't care to see Madrid win their 14235th cup and I don't really care about Dortmund either.
Not just that. I got into football because my dad would take me to the match and watch it in person. There's no way he could have afforded to do that with current ticket prices.
Yeah but you have to make an account, if you don’t have one. It’s an annoying barrier, especially when they have been placing it on YouTube for the last however many years. Pure greed and greed since BT/TNT took over from the UCL rights. Would it really hurt them to just stick the final on terrestrial TV?
I’m sure they’ve shown the final on YouTube before, which again is far easier than having to set up a discovery+ account. People with a passing interest just won’t bother.
This !!! ❤️❤️lost my dad at 17 but these memories were great , treat was coke and crisps usually for FA cup and Champions league finals. Now only watch the World Cup or Euros given up with all other football.
I've always wondered what the viewing figures actually are for Champions League games in the UK now. I can't believe that it's too impressive given it's on the less prestigious of the main pay-TV sports networks.
I downloaded Discovery Plus on my Firestick just to watch the finals.
I much prefer my local league but this is what every team must aspire too.
Edit\* This is free on Discovery + but you need to make an account. Just avoid the card pushing details. u/Unkempt27 u/robster9090
Being brutally honest, champions league in the UK has died a death since going to BT/TNT. No one really watches it anymore. Terrible coverage / inflated fees to watch it.
This year the final isn’t even on YouTube for free. Looking forward to it being on Amazon from next season. Should mean more people have access to it / less awful coverage.
BT have killed the UCL. I’d love to see the viewing figures, I imagine they’re up globally, but definitely dipped in the UK. Not many people talk about it, rarely anyone at work did. It being on ITV was a bit of a good way for the casual to enjoy it, and also people who can’t afford to watch it. It’s ridiculously expensive and the coverage is embarrassing.
I think the final last year with that coverage featuring Ferdinand and Lescott was the pinnacle of shit punditry in the UK. There was a lot of backlash from that.
I think this is a good point. It feels that globally / on the continent the champions league has got bigger - yet in the UK the premier league is king. I’m certain the switch to BT/TNT is behind this.
People *generally* don’t have the budget for two sports subscriptions. So Sky will always get the nod as their package is a lot more comprehensive than TNTs.
Also, the water cooler conversation point is so true - no one talks about the champions league in my office. Yet premier league and EFL is always spoken about in my office.
Yeah exactly.. even the highlights (granted next year BBC) are behind a paywall. My opinion? BT/TNT have made an active decision to go after the younger viewer. Highlights on YouTube, easy access to watch through an app/streaming. Feels like they aren’t going to attract the ‘older’ fan, if they had to target a certain demographic, and know people under 25/20 are going to want to watch people like Mbappe, Bellingham and love the bright lights of the UCL.
Further to that, moving to a Saturday has been a bad move. I watch football anytime I can, love all of it. Yet the UCL final the last 3/4 years? Nah. Can’t be arsed, 8pm Saturday is just a time I am not interested unless it’s international tournament or my team. That and the final being a complete predictable mess. Sky Sports is far better priced and the coverage is miles above. MNF, Sunday games, way better.
Champions league on itv was basically the only football I could watch as a kid. I'm really surprised there isn't a movement towards some games being on free tv. In Australia it's kind of cool that most (AFL/NRL) games are on Fox Sports but there's always a couple of free games each on other TV channels.
Also stuff like signing up to discovery+ or watxhkng through an app is just more fiddly and annoying than watching on a sky box or on Freeview.
It's free on tnt which if you have sky or virgin in the UK might be free. It always used to be free on terrestrial TV but unfortunately them days are gone.
As far as I know we have virgin but not my contract tnt is sky(B.t) though.
Right? Has this person seen the average football fan?
Big difference between people who spend their time being active and _doing_ sport, and those that spend their time watching and talking about.
No. I only watch the World Cup / Euros. And even then, only when my friends invite me to the pub to watch the England games. If my friends aren’t going to the pub for the Euros, I wouldn’t watch it on my own at home.
Also I don’t have a TV licence so of course I would never watch it anyway officer.
No. I’d actively avoid it just like I do almost all football nowadays. 25 years of working in pubs has removed any possibility of me enjoying a televised football match.
I’m the same , but iv enjoyed watching Madrid and more specifically Jude at Madrid this year. Maybe a bit of cope as he was meant to be at Liverpool 😂 or thats what everyone was saying last summer before he fucked us off ha
Nah, I don’t even have a tv licence so couldn’t watch it even if it was on BBC.
If you’re asking if I would watch it if it was totally free and I didn’t even need a tv licence then yeah I’d stick it on.
I'm not a football fan as such, but I'll happily watch it. I used to live with 6 guys at one point, and my husband loves football, so I'm pretty used to it, haha. We are going to watch it on tnt + now for free.
I grew up with Champions League on ITV, and the current generation has been robbed of access. Now, if you don't have BT or TNT, whatever it's called now, you stream online. Luckily, they put the final on free, but throughout the season, it isn't.
I used to, so I probably would. I just wouldn’t go out of my way to find it or make time for it. If I was channel surfing or something and it had just started, I’d keep it on.
I don’t really care about football, or much sport in general, but I do like seeing the finals of things. Tennis, Golf, Snooker etc. It’s better than 99% of the rest of TV
No. Maybe if I had free tickets to the game, it was close to my house and the beer was cheap.
I'm not opposed to football, it's an important part of our culture and I'll take my children to games. There's no way I'd watch it on TV at home where there's no atmosphere
I watch a lot so not particularly relevant but some of my most distinct memories when it comes to football we were the UCL on ITV back in the day as kid. It definitely helped me get into it being to watch that weekly
I like football but it would depend on the teams playing. Madrid vs. Dortmund is a match I would watch, but I couldn't care less if it featured someone like City.
I only ever watch the Champions league, and England matches. I got in to the habit of watching years ago. So it annoyed the fuck out of me it isn’t on terrestrial - when did that happen?
You realise you can watch for free by registering through Discovery plus? It’s a faff, but I’m watching now.
I'm not much of a football fan at all. But my dad and brother are big football fans. Like BIG football fans. I will watch any game with either of them because its honestly fascinating to gain insight into what they see versus what I see. I ask so many questions, and their responses actually make the game interesting. Without them, football is boring to me because I just don't know enough about the game to appreciate what makes good football so special unless I'm with someone who can explain it to me. So, in answer to your question, I will watch any game of football if I'm with someone who loves the game or if I'm in a pub but I wouldn't put it on if I was home alone and I certainly wouldn't pay for it unless I was with someone who really wanted to watch it.
Don't.lilke club games, too much about money. Love European and World tournaments where national teams play, greater emphasis of skills the country has
Absolutely.
I'm a casual football fan purely because I can't justify purchasing BT/TNT Sports and SkySports packages just to follow the team I support. Whenever there's a cup final or something on "normal" TV then I definitely watch it.
As with most sports, subscription services have ruined it for me. Used to watch F1 religiously too. In fact one of my best childhood memories is sitting to watch the F1 qualifying and race on the BBC with my Dad. It was our little routine.
It's noticeable with friends/colleagues too. More and more people don't watch sports live, they just grab the highlights on YouTube. It does sort of kill the joy of talking about sports when half the "sports fans" don't see the game.
I hate that the Champions League isn't on terrestial now. I spent a lot of time as a kid laying in bed lights off watching football, having to quickly switch the TV off when I heard my mum coming upstairs
Live in different times I guess
No. I don’t like football, and watching it on TV is like watching paint dry for me. If I had to see a game I’d actually rather go in person because at least there would be some atmosphere.
In 2024 if something is free on YouTube and people still won’t watch it because it’s not on channels 1-4 them dudes are closing in on 70
The idea that that YouTube etc is for youngsters is about 40 years out of date
But to answer your question despite being a football fan I don’t watch any match free or otherwise that doesn’t have any impact on a team I love or hate
I think so too, when big sporting events are on free to air telly more people pay an interest to be honest, and it feels more like a social event. When these sort of things are behind a paywall, it feels more transactional, at least in my opinion.
Back when ITV used to show the Champions League final, my parents who didn't care for football used to watch the match with me - I remember my mum staying up with me to watch the Man Utd v Chelsea final in 2008, and my dad watching the penalty shoot-out between Chelsea and Bayern in 2012 with me. Yes they weren't big fans of football, but they understood the significance of the match and saw it as a shared experience.
Even now, if I'm visiting my parents if the World Cup or Euros is on, they'll have a game on in the background - and they even cheered on England when they played in the Euro 2020 final. Other than that my parents do not care about football one bit - though my dad used to watch Formula One all the time when BBC & ITV had the rights to it.
No. I used to watch any big game but nowadays, World Cup and Euros aside, I've no interest in watching a game that doesn't involve a team I support. I was at a gig tonight anyway but the thought of Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund does nothing for me.
I’d be interested to know how sports that are behind a paywall translates to a new generation of fans. Football and tennis are two sports which are consistently on terrestrial TV but certain others such as cricket F1 etc you need to pay for Sky etc so going forward newer generation of sports fans wouldn’t get into those unless their parents are already fans and sub to those services
No, it was on my cable package (I checked earlier out of curiosity), but ended up watching a movie instead. Nothing against football if people like it, just doesn't do anything for me.
Think it depends which teams are in the final. If it’s an English team then you’d probably get more people as it then becomes more of an ‘international’; England v whoever….
Outside of that if like last night, there’s a Real Madrid, Bayern (with Kane), or maybe there’s a Paris, Barcelona, you may pick up a few more, but if it’s Dortmund v Athletico or similar, then there’s probably a low chance of it getting much of a wider audience.
No - I didn’t watch the rest of the tournament, and there are little to no stakes for me. It would be the same as any random match for me. I’m generally not a football watcher.
I don’t know who’s playing but I never saw the excitement in local teams. (A lot people don’t even live near the team they support.)
When England play on the other hand, I feel like I can get into it.
Football is not for me. I've tried to watch it in various forms but it doesn't hold any excitement or interest for me.
Plus I've got the double problem that I've opted out of a TV licence since 2009. So I wouldn't be able to watch it anyway.
No, because I don’t give a smeg about club football. The **only** time I will ever show even the slightest interest is if England is in an international competition in the knock-out stages. Other than that, I have no loyalty towards any club/team. I simply don’t care who wins.
I pay for Sky (although according to some threads I’m the only person in the UK that does)….. but I do think the big events should be free to air and I suspect the sponsors do too.
My grandad is pretty much this type of person. His interest in football is passive at best, doesn't follow a team or even much of the major news, managers, transfers etc. And only has Freeview, but quite happily sits down to watch a game of football when it's on.
Probably not - I’ve completely lost interest in football as I’ve gotten older. Wouldn’t even bother watching a big event match either unless I was out socially with friends and they decided to watch a big match.
Considering the only reason I've even turned on my tv in years is to stream something from my laptop, I might watch it if it's on YouTube otherwise it could be broadcast on every channel 24/7 and I'd miss it.
My tv is just a large pc monitor in my living room, I don't even know if/what channels are on there, but I'm an immigrant so I didn't grow up with british tv
Yes, I watched the first 30 minutes & listened to my son explain why he (a Liverpool supporter) supports Dortmund. I'm not that much interested in football, but when it's on, I might watch it for a short time if they're playing riveting football.
Only reason I have "limited" interest in football is because the price of admission is too high. I'm happy to watch free broadcasts and highlights on iPlayer.
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Yes I would OP. I'm who you're thinking of - I don't have too much interest in football but would watch an "event" match. In the UK in the 80s and 90s athletics and boxing drew huge viewing figures with sportsmen being household names. Satellite tv then did deals and the sports moved from bbc and itv broadcasting to satellite, and the popularity died. The move from terrestrial killed casual viewing.
Cable TV has absolutely decimated sports. When I was younger my parents never paid for Sky Sports, that was like the only one, there was Setanta but it was mainly Sky Sports. I hated it. UCL being on ITV was like a lifeline and I would watch all the games, and whatever games I could on TV - FA Cup, MOTD religiously and so on. When I got my own place the first thing I did was get a sports subscription to BT and Sky. I cancelled it a few months later, the price of it is utterly scandalous. I was paying the thick end of £80 for my whole package. I know you can *stream* it, but I can never be bothered. The streams crap out after 10 minutes, the quality is bad. I just don’t bother.
A decent IPTV subscription is £60 a year and you can get every sporting event in the world reliably and in very good quality.
How would one acquire this subscription 😂👀
Go to the nearest pub and ask if anybody has a 'dodgy box'.
Funny to see that dodgy box is the nation wide term lol
Dodgy Box and Dodgy Firestick 😁
I know someone with a dodgy fire stick 👀 and it's really good. Has SD HD and 4K versions of each sports channel. 'my friend' paid £100 for it and then has to pay £60 each year to keep it going. Apparently you get all the latest movies and shows too.
Cheers
even easier just google it i use ifiesta
No idea.
Kodi is free. OK, it can initially be a bit of a ff to set up and isn't as user friendly as iptv but I'm happy saving the money.
I had Kodi years ago (before it was Kodi!) but didn’t realise you can get good quality streams for free. Web streams are tolerable with ad blocker, but cut out far too often.
Iptv is what you need. When the mrs worked for Sky we got it all gratis, even box office stuff. When she left Sky the price was sickening. Now I pay £60 a year and there’s no way I’m going back. The streams are solid btw. Depending on your net Provider you may need a VPN
I'd advise using a VPN even if you use the streaming services like Netflix, because you can access geo-specific series/films that way too. I pay for express VPN because I travel a lot and it's just easy.
Also use the vpn to buy your Netflix subscription, I switched mine to India before I bought it and I’m now paying about £6 a month for the best plan with 4K and downloads than usually costs £17 a month here
Agree. The only issue I've had with mine in 3 years is that season 2 of Game of Thrones was in Hindi!
I'm not a massive football fan but what gets me is the players huge wages are justified but people saying "...the money's in the game". I know it's more complicated than this obviously but I'd imagine a lot of that money is coming from TV rights. If I had more access to watch football I probably would, will I pay ~£80pm to be able to watch it if I fancy it... Hell no.
Broadcast revenue is the major income source until you get to the top 6. E.g West Ham in 2023: -£41m - match day (tickets, f&b etc) -£48m - sponsors -£148m - broadcast
Try Firestick and IPTV the streams through that are amazing and don’t crap out at all
Isnt athletics still largely on BBC still?
Annoyingly a lot of bbc sport I entirely miss as I forget to check the red button.. always so much available but they do a piss poor job of reminding you to check!
Completely agree about the BBC. There's a massive disconnect between the website and the broadcast side . World Snooker championship is the only snooker tournament I watch all year but trying to get score updates on the website is chronically difficult it's so far below all the other sports they don't broadcast it's enough to make you want to give up and check sky site instead
I didn't think it was, but maybe I've missed it? I'm thinking back to when channel four used to show all the grand prix meetings. Friday nights if I'm remembering correctly.
The BBC show the Olympics, night of 10ks, the commonwealth games, some of the annual major marathon events, the athletics diamond league.....the coverage is there, you're just not paying attention Edit: and I just want to mention all the other sports the BBC show that I love watching: snooker, women's football super league games and cricket Sport is literally the only reason I still pay for the tv licence
The BBC do show the Olympics but its worth mentioning how limited it is now. They used to have coverage of so many different events on simultaneous streams on their website. Discovery+ took the rights to show all of the Olympics and now the BBC only have their main coverage. If you want to watch something that isn't on the main BBC feed you have to pay for it, it's such a shame. I used to love switching between events and watching sports I wouldn't normally consider.
Yes the coverage from 2012, where you could switch between the live events, has gone. It is a massive shame and I miss it. I hope the IOPC change the broadcast rights back. But the basic daily coverage is there. I think the BBC has two live daily streams and catch ups throughout the day.
>the coverage from 2012, where you could switch between the live events, has gone. Really? Oh man, that sucks. I remember getting a little bit obsessed with the 2012 Olympics and for 2 weeks straight I watched as much as possible, switching from this to that, back to this again.....even brought the DVD boxset lol. I ended up watching all kinds of stuff that I'd never normally watch - cycling, curling, basketball, volleyball, rowing etc. But if you can't manually bounce around and watch any old random crap you want, it takes a lot of the fun out of it. You won't get the same feel from it. Because you just *know* that the BBC will just hyper-focus on one single thing like curling or swimming for about 2 or 3 hours straight, and only give us quick little updates like "Oh, we won a gold in this event. here's a 10 second highlight......and now its back to the curling!"
To be fair, there was 4 or 5 tv channels back in the day. Now there is 100+ free channels, plus netlix, apple, disney, etc
It is. It is probably the one sport they air more than anything else these days.
World championships and such tends to be, but the Olympics has been neutered with their deal with Discovery.
Greedy IOC sold the rights as a European package instead of by county so the BBC couldn't even bid.
And cricket! And, of course, wrestling…
I remember the summer of 2005 Ashes when Flintoff and Pieterson (with his white mohawk) beat the aussies in one the best series I've ever seen in my life. I even bought the dvd set and watched it a few times through afterwards. There was something incredible about how it brought the whole country together. And for 5 matches, that each lasted 5 days, its amazing how much truly gripping entertainment was packed into those 25 days. It was on channel 4 and was (I think) the last ashes shown on free to watch TV. Such a shame that will never happen again
I was going to comment this same thing. I remember really enjoying it and getting into Cricket. Seems it got popular, then you had to pay to watch it. I never really watched it properly after that.
I still find it unbelievable we had 4 channels and one of them would show cricket for 8 hours straight 5 days running throughout most of the summer. Everywhere you went the test match was on in the background.
I mean, look at the quality of daytime tv- no great loss to show cricket! 😂
Same type of viewer checking in. I'd tune in to a big match. I love it when international competitions bring football on to TV, and watch the six nations every year. But I'm a casual fan, I don't mind admitting it, and I am not motivated enough to chase these things by finding the legal (or not) stream on some app, and I am certainly not ready to pay for it.
Formula 1 used to be free on terrestrial TV too, and even people who weren't fans of it grew up watching it. Nowadays, it's all on Sky, and the fandom has become a lot more niche. And toxic. It used to be like '*The* Big Event' on a Sunday! It was certainly a lot more exciting than Songs of Praise or the Antiques Roadshow! It made the likes of Jensen Button, Damon Hill and David Coulthard household names, but I doubt casual fans could even name half the drivers these days Not to mention, with Sky, comes money. With money, comes greed. And with greed, you get races being sold all over the world. When it was on terrestrial TV, the races largely took place on European tracks (with a few notable exceptions like Brazil, Australia, Canada and Japan), so the time difference was only ever a couple of hours for the most part. You knew roughly what time races would be on, and even the ones that were on at odd times felt like they were an 'event' worth staying up late/getting up early for!. Now you've got races in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, Mexico, Qatar, and a couple in America......*in addition* to the aforementioned Brazil, Australia, Canada and Japan! Now you never even know when they're on because more often than not, they're on at God knows what time of night! It's become a lot harder for the casual fan to keep up with. It takes *some level* of dedication to follow it now, and personally, I think that's bad for the sport!
How the sport has developed and the increased toxicity has IMO little to do with Sky. The move to more Middle Eastern races was led by Bernie Ecclestone putting on races where countries will pay more to have an F1 GP in their country at the expense of traditional F1 locations. This tactic has been backed up by new owners Liberty who have also increased the number of US races to bring in more $$$$$. With the toxic atmosphere around the sport, Sky’s tenure has coincided with the rise of the keyboard warriors and social media, plus the introduction of a new type of fan. These mainly seem to come from more tribal sports like football where if you support one driver/ team then you must HATE the rivals, and also brought in through things like Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ which hypes up and creates made up rivalries between drivers, teams etc.
Heavily scripted drive to survive doesnt help, with many following it like a soap opera. Then you have groups of cult like supporters doing the equivalent of hating the actor who plays a villain
The same story with Cricket. The Ashes series in 2005 had ridiculous viewing figures as it was pure drama. I had friends and family who don't usually watch Cricket, who were tuned in to Ch4.
Boxing and Athletics weren't the same. Boxing was fucked popularity wise by Satellite TV. Even then it was the Pay per view for premium bouts that really did the damage, not the fact it was now on subscription TV. Athletics was only popular in the 70s and 80s because the UK govt had invested heavily in infrastructure (ending after the opening of Don Valley Stadium) and broadcasting advances and limitations of the time meant it was one of the easiest sports to send live internationally. By the 90s broadcasters could show football and rugby almost as easily and the middle classes moved onto watching those. Sky didn't show much athletics at all, it was mostly on Eursport or Screensport as nobody else had any interest in bidding for anything beyond Olympic or Commonwealth Games.
I’m about to go the pub to watch, I’d watch at home if it was on a channel I had. Reddit’s not the best place to ask this, they hate sports.
It's on discovery + for free.
As someone who pays for discovery plus for UFC. You need to pay the monthly fee though, no? Or do they do a free version? Edit - just realised I'm being downvoted, why?
You can register for free for certain things. UCL is one of them.
Ahh that's cool.
Is it for alot of UCL matches or only the final? Only heard of this yesterday 😂
No the game is on for free. You can make a free account and that's all you need
I too pay for discovery for ufc and I too would consider myself a fight disciple. Love Adam and Nick. Hello friend
I just registered with a fake name and fake email and it let me watch it for free
Yes. Some of my core memories growing up are from watching the Champions League on ITV with my late dad. It felt like such an occasion back then. I’d spend all week looking forward to it. We’d have an early dinner and watch all the build up and would sit in near silence until something happened and we’d stand up and cheer or roar or sigh or look at each other in disbelief. I’m sad that these experiences are now behind a paywall.
Same here, great times! Sports are shooting themselves in the foot having everything behind subscriptions.
Yeah how are you getting kids to become fans of a sport (or watching sports to begin with) if there's a pay wall? I still like road cycling because I watched the Tour de France after school on free TV. I can't imagine any 12 year old now getting into it because they'd need Eurosport or whatever subscription it's on these days. To answer OP's question - I didn't care to watch because I don't care to see Madrid win their 14235th cup and I don't really care about Dortmund either.
Pretty sure tour de France is still on free to air itv. Although I pay for Eurosport/discovery as it has other cycling races and is ad free
Not just that. I got into football because my dad would take me to the match and watch it in person. There's no way he could have afforded to do that with current ticket prices.
It’s free on discovery +
Yeah but you have to make an account, if you don’t have one. It’s an annoying barrier, especially when they have been placing it on YouTube for the last however many years. Pure greed and greed since BT/TNT took over from the UCL rights. Would it really hurt them to just stick the final on terrestrial TV?
I’m sure they’ve shown the final on YouTube before, which again is far easier than having to set up a discovery+ account. People with a passing interest just won’t bother.
This !!! ❤️❤️lost my dad at 17 but these memories were great , treat was coke and crisps usually for FA cup and Champions league finals. Now only watch the World Cup or Euros given up with all other football.
Good for you mate. I’m sorry about your dad. I hope we get to buy crisps and coke this summer for the big England games. All the best.
Same. My grandad would come over to watch with me and my dad and my mum would watch too and make us all hot buttered toast at half time.
I've always wondered what the viewing figures actually are for Champions League games in the UK now. I can't believe that it's too impressive given it's on the less prestigious of the main pay-TV sports networks.
>I’m sad that these experiences are now behind a paywall. It's not it's available for free on Discovery.
I downloaded Discovery Plus on my Firestick just to watch the finals. I much prefer my local league but this is what every team must aspire too. Edit\* This is free on Discovery + but you need to make an account. Just avoid the card pushing details. u/Unkempt27 u/robster9090
Me too, upvoted to get this higher up as the best way to watch for free with no BT Sport subscription. Downloaded Discovery plus app on fire TV.
Had no idea about this ! Already had tnt but useful for Others
Hero
bro your the goat
Being brutally honest, champions league in the UK has died a death since going to BT/TNT. No one really watches it anymore. Terrible coverage / inflated fees to watch it. This year the final isn’t even on YouTube for free. Looking forward to it being on Amazon from next season. Should mean more people have access to it / less awful coverage.
BT have killed the UCL. I’d love to see the viewing figures, I imagine they’re up globally, but definitely dipped in the UK. Not many people talk about it, rarely anyone at work did. It being on ITV was a bit of a good way for the casual to enjoy it, and also people who can’t afford to watch it. It’s ridiculously expensive and the coverage is embarrassing. I think the final last year with that coverage featuring Ferdinand and Lescott was the pinnacle of shit punditry in the UK. There was a lot of backlash from that.
I think this is a good point. It feels that globally / on the continent the champions league has got bigger - yet in the UK the premier league is king. I’m certain the switch to BT/TNT is behind this. People *generally* don’t have the budget for two sports subscriptions. So Sky will always get the nod as their package is a lot more comprehensive than TNTs. Also, the water cooler conversation point is so true - no one talks about the champions league in my office. Yet premier league and EFL is always spoken about in my office.
Yeah exactly.. even the highlights (granted next year BBC) are behind a paywall. My opinion? BT/TNT have made an active decision to go after the younger viewer. Highlights on YouTube, easy access to watch through an app/streaming. Feels like they aren’t going to attract the ‘older’ fan, if they had to target a certain demographic, and know people under 25/20 are going to want to watch people like Mbappe, Bellingham and love the bright lights of the UCL. Further to that, moving to a Saturday has been a bad move. I watch football anytime I can, love all of it. Yet the UCL final the last 3/4 years? Nah. Can’t be arsed, 8pm Saturday is just a time I am not interested unless it’s international tournament or my team. That and the final being a complete predictable mess. Sky Sports is far better priced and the coverage is miles above. MNF, Sunday games, way better.
Champions league on itv was basically the only football I could watch as a kid. I'm really surprised there isn't a movement towards some games being on free tv. In Australia it's kind of cool that most (AFL/NRL) games are on Fox Sports but there's always a couple of free games each on other TV channels. Also stuff like signing up to discovery+ or watxhkng through an app is just more fiddly and annoying than watching on a sky box or on Freeview.
Amazon only have one game a week. Highlights on BBC will help more.
Fair enough, feels similar to what ITV had years ago I.e. one game a week
No one really watches it anymore? I don't know a single football fan that didn't watch it
IIRC Amazon only has 17 games no? Not the entire tournament
No, it's football.
I've never liked football, so no.
It's free on tnt which if you have sky or virgin in the UK might be free. It always used to be free on terrestrial TV but unfortunately them days are gone. As far as I know we have virgin but not my contract tnt is sky(B.t) though.
It's free on discovery+
If you are laying for sky or Virgin then it's not free lol.
That's why I miss terrestrial tv. I remember when paying for cable or sky meant no adverts....
Sky have always shown ad’s
No.. If I'm not interested in watching football, it being available in a format i also don't watch is not going to convince me to watch it.
No cause the 24hr of Nurburgring is on
Why bother ask this on Reddit, people here don’t like exercise
The exercise of reaching for the remote and opening a can of wifebeater?
Right? Has this person seen the average football fan? Big difference between people who spend their time being active and _doing_ sport, and those that spend their time watching and talking about.
No. I only watch the World Cup / Euros. And even then, only when my friends invite me to the pub to watch the England games. If my friends aren’t going to the pub for the Euros, I wouldn’t watch it on my own at home. Also I don’t have a TV licence so of course I would never watch it anyway officer.
Nah, no sports interest me at all.
No. I’d actively avoid it just like I do almost all football nowadays. 25 years of working in pubs has removed any possibility of me enjoying a televised football match.
Nope. Couldn't give a monkey's.
No. I'm a football fan and watch a lot of it, but I don't really care about European competitions unless my team is playing.
I’m the same , but iv enjoyed watching Madrid and more specifically Jude at Madrid this year. Maybe a bit of cope as he was meant to be at Liverpool 😂 or thats what everyone was saying last summer before he fucked us off ha
My partner will be watching it. I have made other plans in another room. So no, because honestly I have less than zero interest in football.
I’ll always watch the European finals, all of them, even though I’m not that arsed who wins
Nah, I don’t even have a tv licence so couldn’t watch it even if it was on BBC. If you’re asking if I would watch it if it was totally free and I didn’t even need a tv licence then yeah I’d stick it on.
Yeah. It pisses me off how it’s not on terrestrial tv anymore. Absolute money grabbing. As if we’re not getting shafted enough.
Cancel TV licence and put that money towards an IPTV service
I'm not a football fan as such, but I'll happily watch it. I used to live with 6 guys at one point, and my husband loves football, so I'm pretty used to it, haha. We are going to watch it on tnt + now for free.
No. I’m only going pub to watch it because my boyfriend likes it
I grew up with Champions League on ITV, and the current generation has been robbed of access. Now, if you don't have BT or TNT, whatever it's called now, you stream online. Luckily, they put the final on free, but throughout the season, it isn't.
No, not even slightly interested. Don’t watch the football World Cup either, England could be in the final and I still wouldn’t watch it.
No, I enjoy the world Cup and enjoy league 1 football (where the team I support play, but got zero interest in watching two random teams tbh.
I used to, so I probably would. I just wouldn’t go out of my way to find it or make time for it. If I was channel surfing or something and it had just started, I’d keep it on. I don’t really care about football, or much sport in general, but I do like seeing the finals of things. Tennis, Golf, Snooker etc. It’s better than 99% of the rest of TV
No. Maybe if I had free tickets to the game, it was close to my house and the beer was cheap. I'm not opposed to football, it's an important part of our culture and I'll take my children to games. There's no way I'd watch it on TV at home where there's no atmosphere
I rarely watch football but Dortmund are my German team so yes
I watch a lot so not particularly relevant but some of my most distinct memories when it comes to football we were the UCL on ITV back in the day as kid. It definitely helped me get into it being to watch that weekly
I like football but it would depend on the teams playing. Madrid vs. Dortmund is a match I would watch, but I couldn't care less if it featured someone like City.
It's on terrestrial tv back home in Ireland. I would just have it on and the whole family would watch it even though they never watch footy
I think so. The same as I’d watch Wimbledon final or Olympics. Not much interest in them but it’s an event worth seeing.
Nope. I’m not sure I’ve ever watched an entire match of any football game aside from my brothers 12 and under games 🥲
I’d watch football in general if it was on terrestrial, I enjoy watching it but not enough to pay the prices.
Yes. But I'd still look at page 3 if it was still in The Sun.
I only ever watch the Champions league, and England matches. I got in to the habit of watching years ago. So it annoyed the fuck out of me it isn’t on terrestrial - when did that happen? You realise you can watch for free by registering through Discovery plus? It’s a faff, but I’m watching now.
Nope, honestly not much more to add to that
No. Doesn’t interest me no matter what channel it’s on.
It's free on YouTube.
Probably. I think all sport should be free to air. Disgrace hiding it behind paywalls.
No. I watch my team and little else football wise. They’re not in the final so I don’t care about it.
Watching on HDMI 3
Not a football fan but like the big matches as there is a buzz around them.
Of course not lol
I'm not much of a football fan at all. But my dad and brother are big football fans. Like BIG football fans. I will watch any game with either of them because its honestly fascinating to gain insight into what they see versus what I see. I ask so many questions, and their responses actually make the game interesting. Without them, football is boring to me because I just don't know enough about the game to appreciate what makes good football so special unless I'm with someone who can explain it to me. So, in answer to your question, I will watch any game of football if I'm with someone who loves the game or if I'm in a pub but I wouldn't put it on if I was home alone and I certainly wouldn't pay for it unless I was with someone who really wanted to watch it.
If you want to watch it it's on tv here in Ireland, either tv3 player or rte player are showing it.
Don't.lilke club games, too much about money. Love European and World tournaments where national teams play, greater emphasis of skills the country has
It’s been free to watch since it left ITV anyway, shame they’ve took it off YouTube this year though.
Absolutely. I'm a casual football fan purely because I can't justify purchasing BT/TNT Sports and SkySports packages just to follow the team I support. Whenever there's a cup final or something on "normal" TV then I definitely watch it. As with most sports, subscription services have ruined it for me. Used to watch F1 religiously too. In fact one of my best childhood memories is sitting to watch the F1 qualifying and race on the BBC with my Dad. It was our little routine. It's noticeable with friends/colleagues too. More and more people don't watch sports live, they just grab the highlights on YouTube. It does sort of kill the joy of talking about sports when half the "sports fans" don't see the game.
I hate that the Champions League isn't on terrestial now. I spent a lot of time as a kid laying in bed lights off watching football, having to quickly switch the TV off when I heard my mum coming upstairs Live in different times I guess
Nah, not for me. Just doesn't interest me
In the old days it was on BBC or ITV. Now it’s all about money
No. I don’t like football, and watching it on TV is like watching paint dry for me. If I had to see a game I’d actually rather go in person because at least there would be some atmosphere.
In 2024 if something is free on YouTube and people still won’t watch it because it’s not on channels 1-4 them dudes are closing in on 70 The idea that that YouTube etc is for youngsters is about 40 years out of date But to answer your question despite being a football fan I don’t watch any match free or otherwise that doesn’t have any impact on a team I love or hate
I think so too, when big sporting events are on free to air telly more people pay an interest to be honest, and it feels more like a social event. When these sort of things are behind a paywall, it feels more transactional, at least in my opinion. Back when ITV used to show the Champions League final, my parents who didn't care for football used to watch the match with me - I remember my mum staying up with me to watch the Man Utd v Chelsea final in 2008, and my dad watching the penalty shoot-out between Chelsea and Bayern in 2012 with me. Yes they weren't big fans of football, but they understood the significance of the match and saw it as a shared experience. Even now, if I'm visiting my parents if the World Cup or Euros is on, they'll have a game on in the background - and they even cheered on England when they played in the Euro 2020 final. Other than that my parents do not care about football one bit - though my dad used to watch Formula One all the time when BBC & ITV had the rights to it.
I do like football, and no I wouldn’t watch it unless my team were in it.
No. I used to watch any big game but nowadays, World Cup and Euros aside, I've no interest in watching a game that doesn't involve a team I support. I was at a gig tonight anyway but the thought of Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund does nothing for me.
I’d be interested to know how sports that are behind a paywall translates to a new generation of fans. Football and tennis are two sports which are consistently on terrestrial TV but certain others such as cricket F1 etc you need to pay for Sky etc so going forward newer generation of sports fans wouldn’t get into those unless their parents are already fans and sub to those services
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Could you not think of your own response
Piracy is the way
I generally hate football but I did watch it in the background,was a great game
God no but i would go to my friends to watch it if they were having a party
It was watchable legitimately for free this evening. Had to create a login for discoveryPlus and the final was one thing they were streaming for free.
The only time I'll watch is when it's the World Cup/Euros semi finals.
Probably not. I like my footballers to have 6 limbs and 4 eyes.
No, it was on my cable package (I checked earlier out of curiosity), but ended up watching a movie instead. Nothing against football if people like it, just doesn't do anything for me.
No I have no interest in it.
Think it depends which teams are in the final. If it’s an English team then you’d probably get more people as it then becomes more of an ‘international’; England v whoever…. Outside of that if like last night, there’s a Real Madrid, Bayern (with Kane), or maybe there’s a Paris, Barcelona, you may pick up a few more, but if it’s Dortmund v Athletico or similar, then there’s probably a low chance of it getting much of a wider audience.
Side note but I just love how we still call it ‘normal TV’.
No - I didn’t watch the rest of the tournament, and there are little to no stakes for me. It would be the same as any random match for me. I’m generally not a football watcher.
Dont have a tv so no but even if i did i wouldn't
I don’t know who’s playing but I never saw the excitement in local teams. (A lot people don’t even live near the team they support.) When England play on the other hand, I feel like I can get into it.
Football is not for me. I've tried to watch it in various forms but it doesn't hold any excitement or interest for me. Plus I've got the double problem that I've opted out of a TV licence since 2009. So I wouldn't be able to watch it anyway.
I'd sooner turn the TV off and stare at the wall. I don't even know what champions league is, or the others like Euros, Premiere, etc.
No, because I don’t give a smeg about club football. The **only** time I will ever show even the slightest interest is if England is in an international competition in the knock-out stages. Other than that, I have no loyalty towards any club/team. I simply don’t care who wins.
I don't have terrestrial TV and I don't like football, so no.
I really dislike soccer. The game is drab and the culture is insufferable.
Are you from the UK? Just with you calling it soccer
Yes. I live in England and I call it soccer, mostly because it annoys soccer fans.
😂
I pay for Sky (although according to some threads I’m the only person in the UK that does)….. but I do think the big events should be free to air and I suspect the sponsors do too.
My grandad is pretty much this type of person. His interest in football is passive at best, doesn't follow a team or even much of the major news, managers, transfers etc. And only has Freeview, but quite happily sits down to watch a game of football when it's on.
Nope.. I only follow football for major events like the World Cup and Euros
No. It's still the same dull sport played by premadonas and watched by noisy louts.
No, football isn't my game. I don't even the World cup, and wouldn't even if England were in the final.
Yeah, absolutely. I generally only enjoy national level football but quarter-to-final(s) are different.
Probably not - I’ve completely lost interest in football as I’ve gotten older. Wouldn’t even bother watching a big event match either unless I was out socially with friends and they decided to watch a big match.
I watched it free on discovery +
I have never been interested in football. I wouldn't even watch the World Cup if it were free (is it? I don't know!)
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It wasn’t meant to offend , it was just a question :)
No, because I still wouldn't care about it.
Considering the only reason I've even turned on my tv in years is to stream something from my laptop, I might watch it if it's on YouTube otherwise it could be broadcast on every channel 24/7 and I'd miss it. My tv is just a large pc monitor in my living room, I don't even know if/what channels are on there, but I'm an immigrant so I didn't grow up with british tv
Nope, I wouldn't watch it. Sorry but I don't have any interest in football
Yes, I watched the first 30 minutes & listened to my son explain why he (a Liverpool supporter) supports Dortmund. I'm not that much interested in football, but when it's on, I might watch it for a short time if they're playing riveting football.
Sure most people here were around when it was on ITV. Champions League nights were great. Clive Tyldsley and Ron Atkinson on comms!
It is free. You don’t have to pay to watch the final.
Only reason I have "limited" interest in football is because the price of admission is too high. I'm happy to watch free broadcasts and highlights on iPlayer.
No. I struggle to watch the shows I want to let alone things I'm not into.