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Heilan Rover · Joined: 24 Dec 2018 Posts: 456 Location: Lorient

I heard the Raith TV guys say the Football Authorities were cancelling live streaming for next year. Only an international fan outside the UK can pay to see the game live.

I have to say this has saddened me no end and I am sure there are many others like me who are equally sad because they cannot travel to see their club.

The live streaming has allowed me to watch every league game the Rovers have played for the last two years and it will be sorely missed.

This will also affect club revenue. Watching the Arbroath V Rovers stream recently, I noticed they had a wee icon at the top of the screen, showing how many fans were watching the stream. At one point this stood at 387. Arbroath were charging only £10.00 per viewer, therefore the club collected an extra £3,870 of no doubt much needed revenue they might otherwise not have had, due to the live screening. I obviously have no idea what our club generates at a home game from live streaming, but it must be similar if not greater than this. Maybe the Raith TV guys can give us an answer if it is not too commercially sensitive?

Yet again we find decisions being made in the Ivory Towers of football that are detrimental to both the smaller clubs and their fans. Surely even they understand that if a fan can get to a game, he/she would most definitely go. If I, like many others reading this, could travel to Starks Park for Games, we would! However sadly we can’t, and live streaming was bringing us, and our money, back into the club we love. So as I said before, this is detrimental to the fans by robbing us of a chance to see our teams, and robbing our clubs of the much needed extra revenue.

I am not all that computer savvy but there must be a way of telling from where a fan is watching the game? I know when buying stuff on the Internet I am asked if it is OK to show my location. Therefore it cannot be beyond the wit of the football authorities to say, specify a radius in miles from a ground, and if you are outwith that radius, you can stream the game live? Maybe a question for you younger and smarter posters?

At the very least, it ought to down to the club to decide if they want to stream or not. Crying or Very sad

Gary Parker · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:20 am Post subject:

Quite disappointed in this myself too, especially for away games that i'm unable to travel to but also for every Rovers fan who finds themselves far afield.

I suspect the decision is down to the ramp down in Covid concerns meaning there are no attendance restrictions and therefore the expectation is that you go along and watch live, but its not a great call to make. There are many people who still don't want to go to crowded areas etc and those peoples decisions should be respected.

Heilan, I know its possible to geolocate someone based on their IP address etc but its equally possible to fake this and access things outside the intended broadcast zone.

I hope there is a solution found that allows match broadcasts to continue, even if not live, but the full match shown after with commentary provided live as well.

Biggles · Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 2138

TxRover · Joined: 02 Jun 2018 Posts: 2859 Location: North Texas, USA

I suspect that after a year or two, hard data will be available that will show that live streaming was a net positive for the clubs and game, and they will resume it. It is likely the way forward, but fitba isn’t the most forward looking of sports, especially with old school Boards making the calls.

Cuparman · Joined: 12 Jul 2008 Posts: 1575 Location: Irvine

just under 200 mile round trip for us.
Too costly I’m afraid.
Really enjoyed watching Raith TV in general.

I wonder what “ jobs worth” think cancelling this TV coverage is a good idea. Crying or Very sad

Admittedly it is no sky production, but it has improved somewhat over time.
Personally I would like to see more “ more zoom out” than “ zoom in”.

‘‘Tis a learning curve” like everything that’s new.
Certainly we are happy enough to pay for it.
Very Happy

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Born a Rover Live a Rover Die a Rover

Offside! · Joined: 21 Aug 2016 Posts: 352