Great post.  Spot on.  I've got BT Sport rather than Sky Sports but Saturday (Tottenham V Arsenal) was the first time this season I've actually watched a Premiership game from start to finish.  It was actually a really good game.  Most of the time when I start watching them I turn over because I'm bored rigid after 45 mins.  Its getting like watching Italian football 20 years ago; ridiculously tactical and passing the ball to death with no real purpose.  The marketing of it as being this amazing product is clearly doing its job, because as an outsider looking in its largely boring as fuck football played by robotic athletes.

Last edited by lifesanocean (11/2/2015 4:57 pm)

Hamiltonarab wrote:

When will this bubble burst?! It has to end at some point as the ever increasing price tag surely cannot be sustainable in the long term, as we all know ultimately who ends up paying for it. It will be interesting to see if ticket prices down there do actually come down as a result, but I very much doubt it especially at the bigger clubs. As I see it more and more crowds in England are on the large majority pretty well off, many now just cannot afford to go and support their team. It is well reported that places like Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford amoung others are struggling for a decent atmosphere at games. Is this due to the increase in the type of person now going to these games? Most likely I think. Only thing is a lot of these people want to go to these games to experiance the atmosphere, so in time some may just switch off by which time the more avergage punter will have fell by the wayside years ago.

Now I know and accept that the EPL is better than the SPFL, but the gap in product between the EPL and SPFL is not at big as the finacial gap would suggest. What this does prove though is that marketing is king and an ok product like the EPL can pull in that much tells us a lot. Barry Hearn spelt it out very clearly for the suits and blazers before Christmas. So many people/customers fall into the trap and accept what they are being told/sold without even realising it. The further problem is that money from Scottish subscriptions for Sky/BT will be covering part of this £5.1Billion, as there is many who subscribe purely for the SPFL but don't want the EPL. Of course this is also true the other way round up here, but again comes round to how it is marketed and packaged up. Surely though it is worth examining these figures, do we get a fair deal?

The big qustion for me and Scottish football though is - What exactly are Doncaster and Regan actually doing? Surely this further highlights how inept and useless they really are. They can't even secure a league sponsor for fuck sake! They as usual come out with the old, "No one wants to buy into it etc etc", but it is their negative spoutings that put any potential interest off. "Melt Down!", "Armagedon!" blah, blah, blah.

Great post HA but, for me, your first 5 words are crucial. Bubble is the operative word for the EPL, it most certainly can't go on at the present level and it can only be a matter of time before it goes Setantaesque.

Spot on with final paragraph and the sooner we have people fit for purpose to lead our national game, the better.
 

Fucking nailed it for me Hamilton -no further blethers fae me needed.