Swansea City will play Burnley on Saturday afternoon and fans will be able to watch it online across the globe, but not in Swansea itself.
Since the 1960s, live broadcasting of football matches in the traditional Saturday 3pm slot has not been permitted within the United Kingdom.
Coincidentally, Burnley had a large part to play in this. It was former Burnley chairman Bob Lord who pressed his fellow Football League chairmen to introduce the 3pm blackout, fearful the rise of televised football could have a negative impact on stadium attendances.
A lot has changed since then. The creation of the Premier League and the emergence of dedicated sports channels saw a boom which means we can now watch live football from across Europe and further afield, every day of the week. But the 3pm blackout has remained, meaning the vast majority of Football League games can only be watched legally by buying a ticket.
This rule was only eased temporarily during the Covid-19 pandemic when fans were not permitted to attend games. The broadcasting ban swiftly returned when supporters returned to stadia but squeezing that genie back into the bottle hasn’t been straightforward and the EFL is now considering proposals to lift the 3pm blackout after more than half a century of stubborn resistance.
This has been met with fierce debate among supporters. Those in favour of the move believe it could provide clubs with an invaluable additional income stream.
It would also make it easier, and potentially cheaper, for fans to watch their side play. This is particularly true when it comes to away fixtures. The combined travelling distance to and from all of Swansea’s away games this season isn’t far off 10,000 miles. That’s roughly the equivalent of driving to Baghdad and back.
It’s a heck of a commitment in time, effort and also cash. Between extortionate ticket prices, rising travel costs and of course the expense of food and drink, following Swansea City on the road is anything but cheap and many people can’t afford to do it on a regular basis, especially during a cost of living crisis.
Providing fans with the opportunity to watch games from the comfort of their own homes would offer supporters the chance to follow their side without crippling their wallets. However there are many people who believe the simple step of broadcasting 3pm kick-offs could have a highly detrimental long-term effect on football in this country.
The main argument against showing these games online or on TV is the same as it has always been. There are legitimate fears that lifting the ban could see attendances drop, hampering the matchday experience.
There are those who have dismissed this concern, claiming fans will still want to experience a day out at their local football club. After all, there’s far more to the matchday experience than what happens on the pitch, and the joy of meeting friends in the pub beforehand, singing at the top of your voice with thousands of other fans and crashing into random strangers as you celebrate a goal are all things which can’t be replicated in your front room.
But it’s difficult to envisage this move having any kind of positive impact on attendances. If you offer people a cheaper, easier way to follow their side, a lot of fans are going to take up that offer. Measuring this potential impact is difficult.
In 2018 the EFL allowed all midweek fixtures to be broadcast on Sky Sports’ red button service and through club streaming channels for the first time. I crunched the numbers to see if this had any obvious impact on matchday crowds.
It’s worth noting that midweek attendances tend to be slightly lower than weekend attendances anyway, partly due to the added difficulty of getting to these games for away supporters.
In 2017-18, when midweek matches were not generally broadcast live, attendances for Tuesday and Wednesday night matches were seven per cent lower than average attendances in the Championship.
The following season, with fans able to watch these games from home for the first time, the difference between midweek attendances and the league average had increased to 10 per cent.
It’s not an enormous drop-off and attendances can be influenced by many different factors, so the picture isn’t particularly clear. The following season actually saw the gap narrow again to just eight per cent, before the Covid-19 pandemic forced games behind closed doors.
We discovered during that pandemic that football simply isn’t the same without fans, and many worry that scrapping the blackout could shrink crowds and endanger the vibrant atmospheres which make the lower leagues so special.
Fans also fear that any decision to allow broadcasting of EFL games would open the door for the Premier League to follow suit. With its enormous clout and appeal, it would be able to demand far more money for its television rights, further widening the already colossal financial gap between the top tier and the rest of the pyramid.
This is a move which may very well give clubs a short-term financial boost, while feeding the ever-growing inequality in the game.
We can all debate the rights and wrongs of this move but it feels a bit pointless because by now it’s surely a question of when rather than if the blackout gets scrapped.
The necessity to allow streaming during the Covid-19 pandemic has shown what’s possible. A bit like working from home, going back entirely to the way things were before the virus was always going to be tricky once people saw what modern technology could offer them.
In an age where so much top sport is broadcast live and so much money is made from TV deals, the 3pm blackout feels like a concept from a different era.
In truth it has gradually grown unfit for purpose in the 21st century. While broadcasting these games may be forbidden in the UK, they are beamed across the globe because the ban doesn’t extend beyond international borders.
Football matches are therefore watched by masses of people in this country on dodgy streaming sites, or via software such as virtual private networks which disguise their locations, enabling them to stream EFL games as if they were abroad.
The practise is rampant despite the efforts of organisations such as the Premier League to stamp it out. People are finding ways to watch matches in this country, so the EFL seems to have reluctantly accepted that if you can’t beat them, join them.
The important question now is how best to repeal the ban in a way which enables clubs to profit fairly, without leading to yet more inequality between bigger and smaller clubs.
Like it or not, it’s only a matter of time until fans will be able to watch matches like this afternoon’s clash at Turf Moor from the comfort of their own homes. We will have to hope this does not lead to a significant drop in attendances or a dampening of matchday atmospheres, but there are no guarantees at this point.
This feels like a major change for football in this country and one which could have a significant impact on the typical fan experience. When this move goes ahead, it has to be done correctly, with the long-term health of our supporter culture and the football pyramid in mind.
READ NEXT:
Russell Martin thrilled for defender as Swansea City do what they haven't done for three years
Russell Martin speaks out after being strongly linked with West Brom manager's job
Huw Jenkins lands new job as ex-Swansea chairman spotted at youth derby clash with Cardiff
'I love the club' - Matty Sorinola's Swansea City hope and the special feeling he had at Watford
