Possibly the least interesting news to emerge from the footballing world this week is that the American TV giant Paramount has paid several squillion quid to broadcast the vast majority of UEFA Champions League matches from 2027. I know that for TV football viewers, as opposed to actual supporters who go to games, this will be another financial blow. On top of those Sky, Premier Sports, TNT, Amazon and DAZN subscriptions, those who are desperate enough to watch what is effectively becoming a European Super League will have to fork out yet another wedge in order to watch it. I could not give a toss.
I am less engaged with football than I have ever been. Overkill doesn’t go close to the way I feel about Our National Game these days. I watch most, though not all, Liverpool games on the grounds that I like Liverpool, despite having no geographical nor familial ties with the place, something which I have to say places me in the same category as the glory-hunters who ignore their local team in favour of the so-called glitz and glamour of the Premier League.
I would probably watch more football on the telly if the first team I ever saw and subsequently supported, Feyenoord, were on Sky or TNT, two channels I still pay for, but again the Dutch Eredivisie is behind a paywall that isn’t Sky or TNT. Long ago, I came to the conclusion that if more and more subscription companies came along and bought up the rights to sports events, I would not take out additional subscriptions. If I happened to miss sporting events, then so be it. Frankly, I would rather spend my money on other things, like music, books, travel and the like than to pay for even more channels that would chain me to the crystal bucket for even longer than I already do.
At least Paramount hasn’t snaffled up the other European tournaments. As part of the new deals, while Paramount has acquired the rights to The Big Cup, Sky has bought up the lesser cup competitions, the Europa League and the Mickey Mouse League Conference League, offering from 2027 an additional 342 games each season. This affords the viewer a golden opportunity to spend their entire time on Earth watching games and abandoning tiresome chores like eating, sleeping and doing anything else at all. Who needs friends when you can ‘enjoy’ live coverage of the fifth best team in Sweden lining up against the runners up in the Maltese League? Fancy a pint tonight? “Oh, I’d love to, but I’m afraid its AZ Alkmaar versus Volos on Sky tonight. How about a pint next summer if I can fit it in between the World Cup and pre season tournaments?”
Overkill? You’d think so, wouldn’t you, but apparently not. Match attendances are holding up very well, as presumably must be TV audiences. The companies must have worked out that there are huge audiences out there, just waiting to watch everything from the Champions League to non-league football from the comfort of their own armchairs. And we’re happy to drain our bank accounts, as well as empty our brains, in order to consume it.
More, for me, is less. I haven’t planned it but the more football there is on telly, the less I watch. I have not watched Match of the Day for many years, and, as I said, I only watch SUPER SUNDAY on Sky and BIG EUROPEAN NIGHTS on TNT if Liverpool are on. There are Christ knows how many games on today and I have not even bothered to check which ones. Frankly, I could not care less.
Meanwhile, everyone else has either gone to the football or slumped in their favourite chair to watch whichever games are on. If somehow I manage to make it into old age, I’ll have plenty of time to watch all the football I can manage, as I eat my food that’s been through a blender and spend the rest of the day pissing my pants. In the meantime, there’s plenty of other things I’d rather do than pay even more money to cable TV companies. Now excuse me while I settle down to watch *checks listings* Harrogate Town against Walsall … (am I fuck).
