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[Albion] Paul Barber on why Saturday's "free" Liefering stream wasn't free for US residents



Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
2,454
London
I am realistic enough to understand that the club is now a large corporate entity with multiple tens of millions in revenue. I have no problem with the club selling the rights (in the territory I happen to live) to pre-season friendly matches. But as they ARE now a large corporate entity, I will expect them to act like one in all regards.

They have essentially misrepresented to me the service they are offering (or not offering). They published on social media that I could watch a stream for free. When I went to their website, they then directed me elsewhere, with no mention of any fee being payable. It was only then that I was left to discover that I had to pay $30 for the "free" product.

Just imagine a shop where you spend a lot of money, advertises on social media that they are offering a product you desire for free. You get up early and stand in line, seeing many other customers receive their free product. You get to the till...and are asked where you live. You are surprised, but tell them; they ask you to join a second line. When you get to the front of that line, you are told you actually have to pay £20 for the "free" product, because they subcontracted (for a fee) with another entity the rights to deal with customers from your town. Would you feel "yeah, fair enough really", or would you feel they had stitched you up?

The club has previous form for this sort of thing: at the start of the 2017-18 season they marketed a subscription to Seagulls TV with the explicit statement that "Seagulls TV will also screen live coverage and highlights of selected under-23 Premier League 2, Women's Super League and FA Youth Cup fixtures" - and then they didn't screen live coverage of any U-23 or FA Youth Cup matches that season.

So no, I don't think it is "fair enough really".

I meant more the reply was fair enough. PB clearly gives you the reason why the situation changed and then doesn't make any hollow promises (that you say the club have previously given you) but says that the club do and will do their best.
In this case, the announcement about coverage, regardless of geography, only came 5 hours before kick-off. This included the link to the US stream - everyone had the same amount of warning and whilst I understand the issue, the broadcast was clearly a last minute deal that most people were able to benefit from. You too could benefit with a VPN.

Look, I'm in a similar situation regarding geography and it is a real effort to try and get information on how to watch games etc, and I have complete sympathy to being up at ludicrous hours to watch something that you would be able to watch for no extra cost in the UK only to find it's basically impossible. It's a pain in the arse. Television rights are mad when it comes to football. You, being in America, probably have better access to the Albion on tele than anyone in the UK. Frankly, I agree that the club probably didn't need to sell the rights to Flo Sports but it was clearly the strategy that they see a good source of income as selling as many rights as possible. Had Sky decided that they wanted to broadcast in the UK, it would not have been free to watch.

Analogy wise, it isn't like standing in line, it's like watching the BBC. In the UK it is free-to-air, we don't have to pay a subscription to watch. However, if you are abroad you don't get access to the BBC as they sell off their assets to other companies to make extra money. The product is still available to you, just not via the BBC. You're British, you used to watch BBC in the UK and you are annoyed because your relatives in the UK are able to watch BBC no issue. The way around this, that is absolutely no hassle, is as previously stated, to get a free VPN, and virtually go back to the UK to watch the BBC or in this case Seagulls TV.

I'm really not having a dig, and hope this doesn't read as such. I understand your frustration (really really understand how difficult it is to watch the Albion from the other side of the world) but there is a really easy solution to this that the club obviously cannot offer. We are lucky enough to live in an age where a) the Albion are broadcast widely and b)they are worth watching - a simple work around makes far more sense than the club missing out on income because a deal hasn't been completed by a fan set deadline.
 


Djmiles

Barndoor Holroyd
Dec 1, 2005
12,060
Kitchener, Canada
The situation could have easily have been resolved if the club stated that customers in US and Canada would have to pay from the get go.

I also went to watch the match mid-game, only to find out I had to pay when I got there.

I agree with AZ. Don’t advertise it as free if it’s not free!
 






Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
59,189
The Fatherland
At the time the club sent the original communication they’d obviously decided it would be, at the very least, free in UK. So why didn’t the club simply say this? Eg “Free to air in the U.K., other territories might incur a cost.” That’s fair and clear.

It’s clearly a comms cock-up. Might have been nice if the club had acknowledged this.
 




Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
At the time the club sent the original communication they’d obviously decided it would be, at the very least, free in UK. So why didn’t the club simply say this? Eg “Free to air in the U.K., other territories might incur a cost.” That’s fair and clear.

It’s clearly a comms cock-up. Might have been nice if the club had acknowledged this.

Agreed, a “thanks for your email, it’s a valid point and one we will address in the future” would have been the logical and simplest response wouldn’t it?

Anyway I’d like to thank the club for providing this service, The quality of picture was excellent and I enjoyed the coverage. In all honesty if there are a number of games being featured like this I would have paid for a month’s subscription if I lived in a pay region.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
59,189
The Fatherland
I wonder what the viewing figures were for the game in North America.

My initial thought as well.

As an aside, I remember when the viewing figures and fees for that failed ITV Football League deal were leaked many years ago. There was one game in the North East where it would have been marginally cheaper for ITV to pay for all the tv viewers to travel to, and actually attend the game in person and have £400 spending money each. No wonder it failed.
 






The_Viper

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2010
4,345
Charlotte, NC
I used a VPN, I watched it all no problem. I was very annoyed to find that the US fans had to pay an outrageous amount for a channel/site I'd never heard of before. But if they want to charge for it and rip their NA customers off that's their right to do so, I'll never fault the Albion for trying to make money after the last twenty years.

The bit that did annoy me is that it was slimy and secretive. They said it was available for all fans to stream live and blah blah blah. They put a little caveat at the end of the article saying US/Canada fans can watch here never once saying it cost money to do so, it was just a bit scummy.
 


Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
23,708
GOSBTS
The situation could have easily have been resolved if the club stated that customers in US and Canada would have to pay from the get go.

I also went to watch the match mid-game, only to find out I had to pay when I got there.

I agree with AZ. Don’t advertise it as free if it’s not free!

Do you want the club to list every country a game will be / will not be available in ?

Really the club should have just said Free to UK blah blah and let everyone figure it out.

Lets not turn into the US where we need precise Do's / Don'ts for everything.

Do not take this medication before driving, playing golf, milking the cow or operating heavy machinery
Eating this may cause food poisoning
Don't eat yellow snow

Etc
 


Tom Hark Preston Park

Will Post For Cash
Jul 6, 2003
69,869
When all's said and done, it's not much more than an enhanced training session on foreign soil. Wouldn't be a lot lost IMHO to just revert to pre-total-coverage days and just play the damned thing behind essentially closed doors. Plenty of scope for taking UMBRAGE when the season starts on earnest
 




Brightonrock01

New member
May 22, 2017
20
Augusta, Ga, USA
- Barber’s a weasel - easy to tell he has worked over here in the land of never wrong

- VPN is only solution, especially if you can get some tech guys to set you one up back home so you don’t get so easily picked up as using a VPN service (BBC annoyingly tech-savvy in this regard)

- AZ’s ferocious attention to detail, encyclopaedic knowledge of everything BHA and selfless service to the NSC community warrant a free set up behind the scenes by the local SturmbahngruppenBozza

Good post. I'm over here in USA, and use a VPN - a free one. No problem picking up BBC. I do subscribe to NBC Sports and their Gold site, as it's then possible to watch all the Premier League games live, and really excellent highlights, but I'll certainly not subscribe, just to watch pre-season friendlies - TV people over here have lost their minds!!!
 








Kman

New member
Mar 30, 2019
215
I am in Los Angeles and used a VPN to watch the game. When the US/Canada link took me to Flosports I knew I had to quickly use a VPN and get around it.
 


skipper734

Registered ruffian
Aug 9, 2008
9,189
Curdridge
unnamed.jpg

Would appear Big Clubs can manage it.
 


AZ Gull

@SeagullsAcademy Threads: @bhafcacademy
Oct 14, 2003
11,587
Chandler, AZ
Would appear Big Clubs can manage it.

Last season Leicester screened the U-23s league match from our own training ground, 'cos apparently our £140million+ turnover is still insufficient to enable us to figure that out.

If Dunk DOES go to Leicester, can we please have their Head of Media in exchange? Please?
 


The_Viper

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2010
4,345
Charlotte, NC
Do you want the club to list every country a game will be / will not be available in ?

Really the club should have just said Free to UK blah blah and let everyone figure it out.

Lets not turn into the US where we need precise Do's / Don'ts for everything.

Do not take this medication before driving, playing golf, milking the cow or operating heavy machinery
Eating this may cause food poisoning
Don't eat yellow snow

Etc

They made a very special point to provide a friendly link for US and Canada residents to watch us so yes, I'd expect them to say it isn't free in those countries. Like I said, it's a scummy slimy thing to do.
 






May 27, 2014
1,638
Littlehampton
The head of Customer Services at the Albion must be the cushiest job going when people are bothering the Vice Chairman with every last gripe. Astonishing

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 



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