Thetownend.com

This could be profound.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/04/premier-league-tv-coverage

This is going to be appealed to hell. Presumably there will be an injunction to stop anyone buying a eurobox.

If ultimately upheld then it is massive.

Downside to us would be more Saturday 3pm KOs being shown while we are playing.

Murdoch won't go down without a fight. I suspect he'll do what all corporations do; lobby the EU up to the hilt with plenty of cash and get the law changed.

My local boozer has been doing this for years now and never been caught
any premier league game on a saturday is really good, even if it is from chinese sky  soapy tit wank

Hmm, seems its no so straight forward for business customers since

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15162241

The Premier League has an anthem?!

Money, Money Money by Abba?

The life of riley

The Man Don't Give a Fuck - Super Furry Animals.  All together now - "no they don't give..."

except for when Manure play and they keep mentioning a player called Woo Nee, who the fuck is that

Always has english based commentators

There is talk that the rights to PL games from 2013 will be sold Europe-wide to get round this ruling, and they will ensure that no games will be shown throughout Europe at 3pm on a Saturday.

It's the obvious step for them, along with making sure they include enough copyrighted material to ensure that the few 3pm games that do go ahead, can't be shown "in public" (ie, Otwanswell boozer).

I'm being thick but how will this get round the ruling?

Because the PL sells the rights on a national basis, which the Euro court has said shouldn't inhibit an individual from purchasing a better deal from outside their home country. By selling the rights on an EU basis (albeit a potentially slightly reduced fee from UK broadcasters and an increased fee from continental broadcaster to balance out the books), The PL comply with the EU laws.  This doesn't affect public broadcasts (Pubs etc) and only applies top private individuals

does anyone else find it all confusing. yes, i am thick as shit.

I'm thick too.

I get the current deal is to sell games separately to each country that wants them , all at different priced.

I think the suggestion is that this practice would stop, and an EU wide rights sale would happen - presumably meaning one broadcaster would own the lot or everyone pays the same??

Either way I'm sure Sky will find a legal way around letting their domestic stranglehold be maintained.

think i might take a dump on my sky box

I think this might help explain it :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2011/10/pubs_v_premier_league.html

And this simply explains why Sky won't lose out :

In the event of a ruling which backs Mrs Murphy's appeal, the League is likely to create one Europe-wide live TV rights package which Sky or another pan-European broadcaster could buy for the same sort of money Sky currently pay, if not more. They could then either show it on the continent themselves or sub licence to foreign TV companies.

The way I read it, there are two issues.

1) Sky are pissed off that consumers can get a cheaper deal by buying a foreign box

2) The PL are pissed off that people are getting around their "no games broadcast at 3pm" rule.

The ruling on the case affects both issues. 1) is Sky's problem because they will no longer be able to hold a monopoly on PL games in the UK because the judge has ruled that it is perfectly legal for consumers to source themselves a better deal from abroad. 2) is the PL's problem because by allowing these euro boxes people can get around the current 3pm rule. They will remedy this by setting up future europe wide TV rights to ban the broadcast of 3pm games.

I fucking hate Sky, SkySports and all that bollocks
The money it brought has ruined football in England, and the power they have over the game is a complete joke.

Its a pointless stand, but out of priciple I will never subscribe to that shite

I agree that the money has ruined our game.

However I enjoy watching the games and Sky programmes are on the whole much better than what is served up on BBC and ITV etc, so for that reason I will continue to subscribe.

Not just Sky but mostly because of, ironically (in this context) the EU Bosman Ruling which led to an explosion of players wages.

I doubt if 1) will happen as folk will have to pay to an installer to move their dish to another satellite, and in a lot of cases fit a larger dish as the crappy sky mini dish is too small, although an enterprising installer could be making a few bob supplying the whole package. The easier option that will suit most people is to keep paying sky

I've been watching 3pm games for donkeys years, before the so called 'Premiership' was even thought of. Totally agree with Matchworn Shirts however, I don't and won't subscribe

Fully agree. I worry more about the extra money the Champions League sides gets, especially in smaller nations, where it means they get a massive advantage especially when the so-called Financial Fair Play starts.

Good article here about Bate Borisov (2nd story down) :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2044425/Carlos-Tevez-toast-Martin-Samuel.html

Sky money hasn't ruined football; what the clubs and governing bodies do with the riches flowing through their accounts, that's what has ruined football.

In other sports the tv money is used intelligently, take cricket for example: the Sky deal effectively subsidises the entire county game, as well as enhancing the infrastructure from grass roots upwards, consequently producing a national side that is smashing everyone else to bits.

Probably too late now for football to get it right?