FINDING A + AS FANS REACH FOR
What impact has new saturation coverage had on City fans?
A 320-mile Tuesday night roundtrip to Carlisle was probably the first big test for Stoke City in a new era of near-saturation live television coverage.
Two of Stoke’s first three matches of the season have been shown live on Sky Sports – the first two of 25 already set for broadcast this season, with the fate of another 13 post-january 4 still to be decided.
To put that into context, Stoke were on the box just five times in 2022/23 and it was similar last term.
It has taken a lot of money, worth £935 million across the board over five years, to have this kind of potentially revolutionary impact on 72 clubs and the way that we all watch football in the Championship, League One and League Two.
Sky and the EFL have been confident that it won’t have a knock-on effect on attendances – and then Stoke got pulled out of the hat for a Carabao Cup first round tie at Carlisle.
How many would seriously sign up for six hours on the M6 when they could flop on their settee or nip down to the pub to tune in instead? Well, about 900 as it turned out so maybe Sky and the EFL weren’t kidding.
It was a 4,441 crowd at Brunton Park even though only one and a quarter stands were open.
That was actually up from the 3,156 in for their last League Cup match at home, against Blackburn all the way back in 2018.
Stoke took just under 2,000 supporters to Watford and they’ve nearly sold out a 1,739 allocation for Plymouth – two Championship 3pm Saturday kick-offs not picked up by Sky – but the next test is here.
Interest is being assessed for a 12.30pm start at Oxford United on Saturday, September 14. There are 1,476 tickets which have gone on sale this week.
Middlesbrough away in the second round of the Carabao Cup next week (Tuesday, 7.15pm) might be a hard sell. Or Portsmouth away in the Championship on a Wednesday night in January.
There are seven 12.30pm kick-offs for Stoke up to early January. Stoke won at that time at home on the opening day against Coventry, as well as on the last day of last season at home against Bristol City, but it feels like an odd time for football.
I can’t decide if I like it or not. From a reporter’s point of view I can’t say I’m looking forward to setting off for Sunderland before dawn on December 7 but at least I might get back home when people are still awake.
Stoke chairman John Coates said: “To a level, we’ll have to see. I’m conscious with us being allocated quite a few 12.30pm kick-off times and the effect that could well be having on supporters. I was speaking to Simon King about the effect it could also potentially have on corporate sales.
“I think it was undoubtedly the best deal that was put in front of the EFL but we’ll have to monitor how it affects ourselves and supporters.”
Ah, the corporate sales, I hadn’t thought about that.
I hadn’t considered this point either, brought up by Stoke fan Grahame Edwards.
“For me it’s been OK so far,” he said. “My son has autism and loves going to home matches but is reluctant to go away so it’s ideal if Stoke are shown away.
“He was also on holiday for the Coventry match so we allowed him to watch that too. I remain on the fence about home matches as how many will stay at home or in a pub and not be there to give support? We are season ticket holders so will be there rain or shine, good or bad but some won’t.”
There’s an addendum. “The commentary,” he adds, “still needs some work.”
There have been a few teething problems for those who have been tuning in at home, including even finding the matches in the first place. You might be a Sky Sports customer but do you have Sky HD+ or Sky Q or Sky Stream or Sky Glass?
Or, like Dave Smith from Fenton, you might not really know until you’re still scrambling to try to find the Carlisle match 15 minutes after it’s started.
“I have watched matches on the red button on Sky before so I didn’t think anything of it until it came to the evening of the game,” he said. “But nothing happened when I pressed the red button. It turns out I need to upgrade my Sky box. I just ended up listening on Radio Stoke.”
Bear with us while we try to explain and apologies for all the plusses. The Sky Sports+ channel has been added for customers with Sky+ who have a full Sky Sports subscription but they cannot access the live streams as Sky+ is not compatible with the Sky Sports app. Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass customers can press the red button to select the match they want to watch or you can watch via the Sky Sports app on your ipad or tablet.
There have been complaints from those who have been able to tune in that the stream has frozen or buffered.
Sky insist that most have run smoothly but they are aware of these incidents and they’re trying to smooth out any issues with what has been a big project to take on.
On top of all the technology they suddenly had to recruit dozens of commentators and the rest.
Ironically, the changes haven’t had a major impact on the Stoke fans who are properly exiled from the Potteries, like Ray Calleja, who lives in Malta.
The streaming service to overseas supporters who sign up remains as it was last season with ifollow. But they still have to keep an eye on kick-off times.
“As committed supporters, my son Ryan and I always plan our schedule around the fixtures to ensure we can watch the games regardless of the changing kick-off times,” said Ray.
“For instance, during the first game against Coventry, I was unaware of the 1:30pm CET kick-off and almost missed it. Luckily, my son informed me in time, as I had assumed it would start as usual at 4pm CET.”
There was at least one supporter who turned up at the bet365 Stadium itself expecting a 3pm kick-off and it only sinking in as fellow fans were heading the opposite way with big smiles on their faces. I’m not sure if them smiling made it better or worse.
So, yes, to a level, we’ll have to see. From corporate sales to fans with autism, away ticket appetite and Dave from Fenton upgrading his Sky box, there are a lot of factors that will have to be assessed.
We’re tied in until 2029 so there’s time to make tweaks to hopefully improve the lot everyone. Unless, of course, Stoke win promotion – but that’s quite another story.