You bet, and in front of the tv's they're awol too. I havenot seen one CL match between those superclubs, while I can watch them all and for free in the Netherlands and the same goes with more Dutch than UEFA likes. One has to realize that for global sponsors the eyeballs in front of a screen matter, not the numbers in the stadium. Fact is that the eyeballs are dropping fast and there's no reason to suggest it's going to be different for the SL.
That article doesn't really support your thesis: "Nielsen ratings show Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Tottenham on June 1 averaged 1.508 million viewers. The total was down from the 2.004 million that watched last year’s game on Fox." (Note that TNT is a cable station, whereas Fox would have been network and then compare it to this: ) "The 2009 final on ESPN — the last one on cable before this season — averaged 1.43 million." So it had more viewers than the last time it was on cable at a time when there were over 10% fewer cable subscribers. Granted, soccer is more popular than it was 10 years ago, but the Venn diagram of the soccer demographic and the cord-cutters overlaps heavily. Finally: "The final was the only round of the Champions League where Turner did not have ratings increases compared to last year. " Besides the fact that it was obviously a net positive in viewership overall, it's worth noting that the final in 2018 would have been over Memorial Day weekend.
And in that season they could have lost 10 of the games they drew, or 3 of the games they won, and still won the league. So the point being made was still valid. Pretty sure he meant the last round of the 2018-19 season, not the last round of games played over last weekend.
Like I said the real problem with any 'superleague' are the 'paying' customers, Liverpool Football Club is an incredibly important part of the community, 55000 people go to their worshipping house every time they play at Anfield and it is these people (and others like them across the world) that have turned football into what it is today and unfortunately for any owners (domestic or foreign) these are the people that have to be pandered too and these people do not want to play Locomotiv Moscow instead of Everton! Because Everton havent had much success since the 1980's and dont have as many supporters worldwide as Liverpool or Arsenal it may be difficult for somebody in Texas or somebody in Singapore to appreciate what a Liverpool v Everton game means to the people in the stadium. Everton may well be an afterthought easily discarded by EPL fans in India but in Liverpool Everton fc is EVERY bit as important to the people as Liverpool fc, can you imagine what would happen in the city if a superleague tried to rip the two apart? The only way a superleague would has a chance of working would be if it was played in conjunction with domestic football WITH pro/rel opening it up to all
... the dynamic changes if those are now league clubs and rivals. You realize that, don't you? AGAIN ... there are consequences for being the worst team in the league ... they just aren't the same ones y'all have.
The 55K worshipers are still going to show up to Liverpool SL games, just as they do for Liverpool UCL and UEL games now. When was then last time Chelsea played Leeds? I would imagine if the gap between games increases younger fans aren't going to remember the halcyon days of the intense hatred for Leeds, seeing as they never personally experienced it. Which, let's be honest here, it's good thing many fans these days didn't get the chance to experience the English First Division from the 1980's (speaking of the Hooliganism that nearly killed off the game). I imagine it's safe to say that Stamford Bridge is a much different (i.e. friendlier) environment and fan experience today then it was back in the 80's. As for Everton, IF they were to be relegated from the EPL and somehow manage to pull a Leeds or Sunderland.....are Liverpool FC fans suddenly going to stop going to Church at Anfield every week? I'll save you the time of finding the answer....NOPE!
The increase in earlier rounds is probably due to Turner being available on basic cable while FS1 and FS2 require an add-on package. FS1 and FS2 are where sports go to die.
Given the american infatuation with ManU and SAF, this isn't a shock “I thought I knew what the group might need, that we didn’t need a big team talk,” Keane said. “It was Tottenham at home. I thought please don’t go on about Tottenham, we all know what Tottenham is about, they are nice and tidy but we’ll ********ing do them. He came in and said: ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham’, and that was it. Brilliant.”
Aston Villa didn't play in the Premier League in 2018/19. They did play Burnley in the "last round" of games at the end of December. So.... no.
I don't care. The bigger point was that I'm a lot more interested in teams in MLS in similar positions playing in matches that could potentially get them into the postseason tournament than I am in watching teams that are so bad they're just trying to hang on. I was more interested in the "occasion" part. Regardless... right now, the teams in the EPL are still pretty bunched up in the middle of the table. But that's not going to keep. By the time we get to the point of 32 matches played, there are going to be plenty of meaningless games. Truth.
? Well you'll struggle to find a Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea fan in the Northeast of England. I spent my teenage years there.
You're a real piece of work. Shouldn't you be railing on about the draft picks that are being spent as we speak?
Erm, how long ago was that? Globalization is more of a 21st century trend. But, sure, specific demographics will have variation.
Vancouver "benefited" from tanking with the 4th college draft pick. They picked him because he's a Generation Adidas Canadian, meaning he won't count against the salary budget but will count as domestic. He's also a TFC academy reject. I doubt we'll hear his name again.