The UAFC

I would be interested in the views of the wise members of the forum on the likely impact of the new TV coverage on the sport in Ulster. As I understand it, only those willing to pay £99 per annum will be able to see no more than 21 free games per season ( and maybe only one UR game) . The "upside" is supposed to be that the individual clubs intake from the TV deal may go up from £1M per annum to over £2M per club per annum.

So, what will UR do with this extra money?

And is the loss of general TV coverage to thousands of young/old TV spectators across Ulster detrimental to the stated objective of widening the appeal of the game?

I appreciate that this particular decision cannot so easily be laid at BT6's door, being a PRO14 decision, but it doesn't feel right to me.

Or am I just too old fashioned?

PPV niche sports coverage is wrong
General consensus on sports coverage globally is to move to the livestreaming model

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And is the loss of general TV coverage to thousands of young/old TV spectators across Ulster detrimental to the stated objective of widening the appeal of the game?


Yes.

It's great. All games in HD and streamable/castable to many different devices.

When the FBBC first acquired the rights the general consensus was that it would have a negative impact on attendances. I don't see how not having free to air coverage will now cause harm to attendance levels. I think it's now time to move on. There are other ways of widening the appeal of UR. The FBBC coverage is woeful and the behaviour towards the organisation appalling.

We're going to sorely miss BBCNI, it's a travesty that this has been allowed to happen and this pipsqueak organisation shan't be seeing a pretty penny from myself.

Amazon win rights to Premier League football. A huge step up on what rugby is doing

Time to break the ppv cabal

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Fortyniner wrote:The "upside" is supposed to be that the individual clubs intake from the TV deal may go up from £1M per annum to over £2M per club per annum.

Which is all fine and dandy....

Till the sponsors cop themselves on and ask; "why are we still paying X when our signage is now being seen by 80% less people?"

So the new deal is £99/year - £8.25/month which to get all 7 games shown live which is a bargain imo. The previous mixed pay/FTA deal would show on average 4 games per weekend. There will be 1 free game each week on Free Sports and under the ROI tv deal TG4 will be showing a free game. Will it be the same game - who knows? Or will we get the blue screen treatment as we do with some RTE stuff - who knows?

BBC bid as a UK entity (NI, ALBA, Wales). Sky wanted the full UK & ROI rights - once they were outbid by Eir Sport down Mexico way, they were out of the running for the UK stuff. S4C may yet get a FTA contract given it's Welsh language status.

So if the team aren't on the box, how does it affect the crowd? Very much depends on how they are doing and the profile of the game. Heineken Cup has been on pay channels for years but you always get a big crowd for those games. I will use the example of Ulster v Dragons on a wet Friday night - previously it would be on BBC so anyone who was undecided would probably just watch it on the box. If it is not a free game, would some of the undecided make a last minute call and head to the game?

Depends on the team's results.

Russ wrote:Amazon win rights to Premier League football. A huge step up on what rugby is doing

Time to break the ppv cabal

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You don't care but football fans aren't happy about this. Three subscriptions to see all games now. They NFL Gamepass is a brilliant service and would be great if the Pro14 did similar.

Very serious impact in Ulster.
Ulster rugby will no longer have any currency.
Occasional supporters will dwindle; more worryingly will be the impact on kids taking up the game.

I'm going to stick my neck out and describe it as the most negative event for Ulster in the last 2 seasons.

I'd be interested to hear how the IRFU voted on the decision (or did each province have a say?)

BR wrote:Very serious impact in Ulster.
Ulster rugby will no longer have any currency.
Occasional supporters will dwindle; more worryingly will be the impact on kids taking up the game.

I'm going to stick my neck out and describe it as the most negative event for Ulster in the last 2 seasons.

I'd be interested to hear how the IRFU voted on the decision (or did each province have a say?)

You're just thinking negatively. You have no evidence that any of that will happen.

Fortyniner wrote:I would be interested in the views of the wise members of the forum on the likely impact of the new TV coverage on the sport in Ulster. As I understand it, only those willing to pay £99 per annum will be able to see no more than 21 free games per season ( and maybe only one UR game) . The "upside" is supposed to be that the individual clubs intake from the TV deal may go up from £1M per annum to over £2M per club per annum.

So, what will UR do with this extra money?

And is the loss of general TV coverage to thousands of young/old TV spectators across Ulster detrimental to the stated objective of widening the appeal of the game?

I appreciate that this particular decision cannot so easily be laid at BT6's door, being a PRO14 decision, but it doesn't feel right to me.

Or am I just too old fashioned?

No you are not to old fashioned, you have another issue - you are a cu’nt, you’ve already badmouthed the entire forum so just go and ride your hand you fu’cking dose.

Right I’m off to persuade Gary Cooper to add Premier Sports to my magic box. Hmmmmmm, HD you say Dave.

BaggyTrousers wrote: you’ve already badmouthed the entire forum .

Big demarcation dispute!
Big demarcation dispute!

Dave wrote:You're just thinking negatively.

I've been supporting Ulster for a wee while now!

in terms of evidence - I can only give 'expert' opinion, but look at the increase in currency Ulster and rugby have received since the CL matches moved from Setanta.

Anecdotally - the people who used to have conversations with me like, "Are Ulster playing tonight?"; now say, "Did you see the team for tonight? I see Dave XXXXXX is injured again." Or often, "I'm going to the game tonight ..."

Now hopefully not all those gains will be lost, but given the other aspects that have changed negatively in recent times, I feel pessimism is the order of the day.