ewerk 26550 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 England match to be internet only England's World Cup qualifier away in Ukraine on Saturday will be shown exclusively live to subscribers on the internet who will pay at least £4.99. It will be the first time UK viewers cannot watch England live on TV. Kentaro - an international agency appointed by the Ukrainian Football Federation - originally sold the UK rights for the game to Setanta. But after the pay-TV firm collapsed, digital sport specialist Perform was appointed to stream the match online. England have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup, winning all eight of their group matches. It is understood none of the traditional broadcasters were willing to pay the asking price to screen the game, which kicks off at 1715 BST. But the news has angered supporters who want to watch the action on television. The match will be available on a dedicated website and viewers will be able to subscribe to it using PayPal, the electronic payment service. Peter Silverstone, managing director of Kentaro, told BBC Sport: "You will watch as you would any other streaming on the internet, like YouTube or the BBC iPlayer - there will be a pop-up player that will show the match in a very good quality stream." Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is part of the studio team for the match, while Kentaro has promised "a top commentary team". The cost of watching the game was being advertised on Monday in the Daily Express as £4.99 if viewers signed up before midnight on Wednesday. Charges rise to £9.99 for those who subscribe on Thursday and Friday, and £11.99 on Saturday. Silverstone insisted the project was "commercially viable". "We have a huge marketing effort behind us with the various newspaper groups that will promote the match on their websites," he said. "Commercially this will work and genuinely offers an exciting opportunity for us. We wouldn't embark on this project if we didn't feel it had strategic long-term value, this isn't a one-off shot." Silverstone said Kentaro would take a maximum of one million subscribers for the match - which he said equates to about 2.5 million viewers - because this would be the "safe number to stop at to ensure the optimal broadcast". The Odeon cinema chain will show the game live throughout the country, including at their flagship cinema at Leicester Square, but the match will not be available in pubs. Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington admitted: "We would obviously like to see the game broadcast to as many people as possible" but insisted the matter was out of his organisation's hands. "These are the rights of the Ukrainian FA and the agents they've appointed to sell them," he told BBC Sport. "A traditional TV platform would be ideal to broadcast the game but it's not the case. It's not in our control." ITV has the rights to home England games and, under the terms of their contract, has taken over Setanta's broadcast rights for away friendlies. However, that aspect of the deal does not cover away qualifying games, and neither the BBC, ITV, Sky nor Channel Five made a successful bid for the match. Perform streamed Manchester City and Spurs matches in the Uefa Cup last year when a TV deal could not be agreed - charging about £4 per game - and Bevington insisted: "We're obviously confident in the company that has got the rights - they're a very professional company". However, travelling England fan Mark Perryman said the fact the match was available only on the internet was "disastrous and an outrage." "A World Cup qualifier should be available for everybody on free-to-air TV," Perryman told BBC Sport. "It seems to me there's a very simple solution - Fifa and Uefa should insist as a condition of entry that all nations sell their games to terrestrial stations, whether its the home or away market." England defender Rio Ferdinand said he thought the broadcasting of the match marked "a good step forward" though. "I read that online advertising has taken over from TV, so that tells you something about where it's going in terms of the digital world," he told BBC Sport. "So I'm sure it'll be the way forward and in the future it'll probably be the reality. I think it's a good way to gauge how many people are interested." And Andrew Croker, executive chairman of Perform, insisted England fans would "embrace" the internet broadcast. "I think consumers are pretty sophisticated now, particularly in the UK, where we have been in the vanguard of adopting new technology," he told BBC Sport. "I think people want a choice - the chance to watch football in a different way. This is pioneering, very exciting and I think people will enjoy it." Anyone going to bother paying for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 13883 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Nah. We are already qualified. So If I can't find it for free I'll just leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeys Fist 38911 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 (edited) Will the stream be able to handle so many people trying to watch it? Edited October 5, 2009 by Barney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 They're limiting it to 1,000,000 subscribers, not that they'll get nearly that many imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 They've picked the wrong game for this like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stevie Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 What a disgrace. Ireland, Scotland, Wales all on, but not England. Jokers. Are the pictures in the MC and the gate Odeon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 13883 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 They used to show Newcastle matches in the Odean. I went to a couple as a kid and people got wrong for chanting as it was disturbing the films at other screens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 What a disgrace. Ireland, Scotland, Wales all on, but not England. Jokers. Are the pictures in the MC and the gate Odeon? I don't think the one in the Gate is an Odeon any more anyway. I assume it'll be on at the Metro Centre and I think the one at Silverlink is an Odeon too. Not exactly many decent boozers near either of those like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Kids Support Chelsea!! 0 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 If you have a bet365 account you can watch it live there for free. I got this email from them today. Watch Ukraine v England live on your PC England travel to Ukraine for their final away World Cup Qualifier in Group Six on Saturday 10th October - and you can watch all the action live at bet365. The game will not be shown anywhere on UK television but bet365 will be Live Streaming the match absolutely free for all customers with a funded account, so you can still follow Fabio Capello's men on the road to South Africa. The excitement doesn't end there! You can bet on over 50 In-Play markets throughout the game, including Next Goal, Match Goals, Total Corners, Half-Time Result, Full-Time Result and much more. To enjoy the action, simply log into your account, click on the In-Play link at the top of the homepage and select the Ukraine v England match. Alternatively, click on the Live Streaming link to launch our console and select the game from the list of events. Please note that you must have a funded account in order to view the match. With fantastic Live Streaming and an extensive range of pre-match and In-Play markets on offer, make sure you're following England with bet365. Enjoy the game! The bet365 Team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4235 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 will it at least be on 5live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizza 105 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I'd probably not watch even if it was on the beeb, no point now we have qualified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackandwhiteboy 0 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 They've picked the wrong game for this like. Definitely and I hope it fails miserably. It would serve them right - having to pay to watch England matches is one thing but having to pay for the privilege of watching one on the internet beggars belief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bias 3 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 There will be free streams so it's not a big deal. Still out of order though that BBC or ITV didn't try for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Still out of order though that BBC or ITV didn't try for it. Ukranians looking too much money for it I'd imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Still out of order though that BBC or ITV didn't try for it. Ukranians looking too much money for it I'd imagine. Aye, that was the crack apparently. No one (Sky included) were prepared to pay what they were asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WubbleUC 0 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 But the news has angered supporters who want to watch the action on television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stevie Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Still out of order though that BBC or ITV didn't try for it. Ukranians looking too much money for it I'd imagine. Aye, that was the crack apparently. No one (Sky included) were prepared to pay what they were asking. These foreigners can be cunts. When I went to Bilbao in 1994, I seem to remember that TVE who had rights for Bilbao's home games were trying to charge the BBC 1 million American dollars, however much that is, so it never got shown live in England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentAxeman 82 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Anyone going to bother paying for it? nope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stevie Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Anyone going to bother paying for it? nope! It shouldn't even be on SKY or ESPN. All England World Cup and European Championship Qualifiers should be available on free view, as it's a major event in the context of this country. When one of Diana's sons becomes King, that will be on BBC free, so why not England playing? I know what I'd rather watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9034 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 A chance for England to celebrate it's history and future in full pageantry, pomp and circumstance or an effectively meaningless game of football between the Ukraine and a team who'll more than likely not be "up for it"? yeah, I know what I'd watch too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Castell 0 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Since it is a meaningless game for us, I'd have only watched it if the team was: David James Ken Dodd/Boris Johnson/Ian Huntley/Derek Acorah Captain Birdseye/Darren Gough Lemmy/David Dunn/Sacha Baron Cohen Eddie Izzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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