Today's attendance?? | Page 2 | Vital Football

Today's attendance??

valenciagill said:
Does Devon (Plymouth), Dorset (Bournemouth) Hampshire (Southampton/Pompey) and Sussex (Brighton) have a better history of success in sport?
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Don’t know but Medway is poorer than those areas, I think the average family in the area can’t afford to be a regular supporter of Gills.
Many Medway residents have moved out from London in past generations and so armchair support the like of West Ham and other London teams.
 
That's about it, one player and County with a good history, not great. OK so we finished runners up in the second division.
 
I don't know if it's the cockney rejects or the eastern Europeans, but most of them seem to support Man Utd!
 
[QUOTE="I wonder what would happen if sky sports / BT sports etc. all stopped showing live games on the TV, do you think attendances at games would go up much.[/QUOTE]

Without doubt Sky and the other sports broadcasting giants have had a negative affect on attendances for clubs like ours. Thing is, the situation is not going to change, it will only get worse. E.g., most L1 and L2 clubs will have their games available for live viewing via iFollow this weekend and that type of lower league live broadcasting is set to increase further. Sad IMO.
 
ThreeSixes said:
Why is that "without doubt"? Sky don't show league 1 football, or any football on Saturday afternoon?
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Sky show live games, Premiership & EFL at Saturday lunchtimes, tea times, midweek etc etc. They now also carry most Championship midweek games live via the red button.Oh, and this Saturday afternoon, Sky is showing L1 Barnsley game live. I said without doubt as I am in no doubt, Rupert.
 
LancsGordoRoad said:
Sky show live games, Premiership & EFL at Saturday lunchtimes, tea times, midweek etc etc. They now also carry most Championship midweek games live via the red button.Oh, and this Saturday afternoon, Sky is showing L1 Barnsley game live.
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Why does any of that negatively impact Gillingham's attendance on a Saturday afternoon?
 
ThreeSixes said:
Why does any of that negatively impact Gillingham's attendance on a Saturday afternoon?
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Balancing money for one thing, time clash for another. Many people, especially casual GFC fans, prefer to pay money to Sky Sports etc., rather than spend on a regular or ST for their local club. Also, bearing in mind when televised games start and end, folk don`t have sufficient time or inclination to get to their club`s ground in the gap between end of a live TV game and start of a GFC game. Not everyone lives 15 minutes walk from the ground. Used to take me 45 mins to get to GFC (takes me 6 hours now) which isn`t enough time to see the end of the televised game and the GFC start at 3pm. Televised footy is a great thing for those physically unable to get to a match, or for casual fans who prefer the social side of watching a game in the pub etc. But, the fact is Sky & Co`s live TV games will continue to eat into EFL attendances. As I alluded, this Saturday`s GFC game is being televised live (iFollow). Some may decide to spend a tenner watching it on TV instead of actually attending. I won`t be going to Priestfield this Saturday but I will be watching the game live on iFollow !
 
LancsGordoRoad said:
Balancing money for one thing, time clash for another. Many people, especially casual GFC fans, prefer to pay money to Sky Sports etc., rather than spend on a regular or ST for their local club.
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Balancing money applies to everything, not just Sky football. And everything else in your post applies to every team, Man Utd, Liverpool, Sunderland and Portsmouth. Sky have increased the interest in football, so Gillingham should have a slice of a bigger pie. I think there are lots of reasons that only 4000 from the Medway towns go to watch Gillingham, but I'm not sure that Sky football is one of them.
 
My top 3 would be...
1/.Medway Towns is relatively poor.
2/.Priestfield Stadium is not easily accessible.
3/. London is easily accessible for bigger name sides.
 
ThreeSixes said:
Balancing money applies to everything, not just Sky football. And everything else in your post applies to every team, Man Utd, Liverpool, Sunderland and Portsmouth. Sky have increased the interest in football, so Gillingham should have a slice of a bigger pie. I think there are lots of reasons that only 4000 from the Medway towns go to watch Gillingham, but I'm not sure that Sky football is one of them.
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I`m not saying that Sky TV is the only reason for drops in attendance. I am saying that it is a reason. I agree with Vambo`s points, they are all valid. There are no doubt other factors.

I don`t see your rationale in bringing Premiership clubs into the discussion. Lower league clubs would love to have a slice of the pie BTW. The reality is that the greedy Premiership throws nothing but scraps in the direction of lower league footy. Things that Sky (and others) has increased include the cost of taking a family to watch a football game, player wages, which are now disgustingly gigantic and increased gap between the haves and have-nots. Clubs like ours are priced out when it comes to the player market with the effect that some people tend to become indifferent to attending the "lower league" product.

The effect of Sky, from a lower league perspective, is negative IMO. If we were a Premiership club the effect would be a positive one. I`m afraid you`ll not convince me otherwise.

Anyway, ThreeSixes, we are unlikely to agree and I`m off to watch the National League highlight show :shrug:. Oh, and I would re-iterate that Gills will be at least one paying attendee down on Saturday due to live broadcasting, as I will be watching the game live on TV. I hope you and the other 3,998 can cheer them on, as we all know that there`s nothing like actually being there.
 
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