Football: Fanzone - England fans face yet more misery over pay- per-

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Oct 8, 2000 | by BRIAN McNALLY

ENGLAND fans may have to fork out a second pay-per-view fee to stay in tune with the World Cup progress of Kevin Keegan's squad.

Television and football history will be made on Wednesday when independent broadcaster u>direct transmits the first-ever live pay- per-view England international from Finland.

Television industry insiders estimate that u>direct, who have made their name this season covering Champions League qualifiers and UEFA Cup games, paid around pounds 2.7million for England's World Cup game in Helsinki.

And, having dramatically raised the rights-buying stakes, u>direct are making a bold bid to land England's World Cup clash with Greece in Athens on June 6.

Having lost out to Channel Five in the fight to televise the match in Albania on March 28, and with BBC and Sky sharing the crucial return qualifier in Germany on September 1, u>direct are desperate not to lose the momentum and publicity the Finland coup brought them.

Sky Sports are likely to be u>direct's main challengers for the sole remaining away fixture and the bidding is likely to top the pounds 3million mark.

Both Sky and u>direct were cautious about the outcome when Fanzone spoke to them last week, but there is a growing feeling that fans face yet another dose of pay-per-view. A u>direct spokeswoman said: "We are interested in all high-profile international matches. But we don't want to talk specifically about Greece-England at this stage."

A Sky spokeswoman was equally cagey. "We have the rights to the home matches of both England and Germany and will be showing the Germany-England match in September. But the bidding for England- Greece is still going on and nothing is yet decided."

It is thought both u>direct and Sky are playing a waiting game to see how England's first two matches go.

"The size of their investment will depend on England's early results," said an industry insider. "But u>direct are desperate to increase their brand awareness and will be prepared to up the ante if England start well."

Ian Todd of the National Federation of Supporters Clubs believes the advent of pay-per-view in international football is bad news for fans.

"It means the majority of armchair England fans don't have access to their nation's away games," said Todd. "The average fan wants to see the games on terrestrial television.

"It's costing them more money on top of their Sky or Ondigital subscriptions and it is marginalising fans who want to watch England's away matches.

"It surprises me that the BBC can be outbid by a company like u>direct, but there didn't appear to be anyone in charge at BBC Sport for about six months.

"It is very disappointing for supporters to see such important games being lost to pay-per-view."

The FA's Adrian Bevington insists they have no say in the televising of England's away fixtures. "We have absolutely no control over the way other football associations decide to sell television rights to their home matches," he explained. "We only control the rights to England's home games.

"Our aim is always to ensure that as many England fans as possible can see the national team on television, and we were disappointed that the match in Finland went to a pay-per-view channel.

"We can make representations to other FAs, but most want to maximise their income from television and usually that means the highest bidder wins.

"But there is some good news for fans on the horizon.The Germany- England game will be shown live on BBC next September.

"And from next season all England's home competitive matches will be shown live on both BBC and Sky.

"That means fans will be able to see all England's home qualifying matches in the European Championships and World Cup on terrestrial television.

FA chief executive Adam Crozier (below) added: "Because we are a bigger country, we are a good payday for these countries who have the chance to earn a lot of money that they might not otherwise get."

U>direct, who are charging a minimum pounds 5.99 for the Finland game, is run by former BSkyB financial director Richard Brooke and is available on Sky's digital service.

Sky digital distributes u>direct's programmes, but isn't involved in any other way.

A Sky spokesman said: "Sky digital is regulated as an open platform, which means the service is obliged to offer distribution on fair and reasonable terms to anyone willing to broadcast legitimate material."

But it is a major embarrassment for Sky that they will have to host coverage of an England World Cup qualifier from a new kid on the block like u>direct.

THE GAMES ON TV

Where to see live coverage of England's World Cup qualifiers

Oct 11

Finland (A)

u>direct

Mar 24 2001

Finland (H)

Sky

Mar 28 2001

Albania (A)

Channel 5

June 6 2001

Greece (A)

Undecided

Sept 1 2001

Germany (A)

BBC and Sky

Sept 5 2001

Albania (H)

BBC and Sky

Oct 6 2001

Greece (H)

BBC and Sky