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Post by coverpoint on Feb 8, 2021 5:50:40 GMT
Can’t play at outgrounds due to Covid.
Can’t serve food due to Covid.
Can’t admit non-members due to Covid.
Can’t sign autographs due to Covid.
Can’t have crowd catches due to Covid.
Can’t wander around the ground due to Covid.
Can’t take selfies with fans due to Covid.
Can’t play tour games due to Covid.
Can’t move from a designated seat due to Covid.
Can’t use metal cutlery due to Covid.
Can’t open the bar due to Covid.
Can’t play the universities due to Covid.
Can’t have spectators due to Covid.
Can’t have an ice-cream van due to Covid.
Can’t open the toilets due to Covid.
Can’t interview the players due to Covid.
Can’t sell scorecards due to Covid.
Can’t open the club shop due to Covid.
Can’t have ground tours due to Covid.
Can’t go in the pavilion due to Covid.
Can’t use the changing rooms due to Covid.
Can’t have pre-season tour due to Covid.
Can’t go on the outfield at lunch due to Covid.
Can’t shout encouragement due to Covid.
Can’t come in for free after tea due to Covid.
Can’t start a conversation with a stranger due to Covid.
Can’t put your own milk and sugar in the tea due to Covid.
Can’t have mascots due to Covid.
Can’t have ball boys/girls due to Covid.
Can’t have cheerleaders due to Covid.
Can’t use the drinking fountains due to Covid.
Can’t get drunk due to Covid.
Can’t pay with cash due to Covid.
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Post by burgesshill on Feb 8, 2021 12:07:00 GMT
But the main thing is at least you can still go and enjoy yourself.
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Post by philh on Feb 8, 2021 15:08:03 GMT
I am sorry to keep beating the drum, but forget watching T20 live at Hove this season, it ain't gonna happen unless it's for 1,000 people given all the "Covid variants" that may miraculously emerge between now and August. The way forward in 2021 is for county cricket to live-stream all their matches whether it is the Championship, RLC or T20 unless it's shown live on SKY. Charge anywhere between £5 and £10 depending on the format and make a lot of money that way. Far, far more than you would via live attendance. 25,000 people watching a home Sussex CCC v Kent CCC T20 game at £5 a head = £125,000 x 7 home games = £875,000. And that is a minimum. Add to that the Championship and RLC, a small club like Sussex could make £1.5m a season from live-streaming matches. On top of this there are all the potential overseas viewers. If a club has a top Asian player then those viewing could swell enormously. How many Afghanistan cricket supporters, for example, would pay £5 to watch Rashid Khan play live at Hove? Many thousands, I would suggest. County cricket is sitting on a goldmine. It's so bleedin' obvious. I find it hard to estimate the number of people that would watch a live stream. I googled for some figures from the English Football League (the second to fourth tiers). You could (arguably) equate Sussex CCC playing T20 with a decent Championship side (second tier) and a County Championship game with League 2 (fourth tier). The figures across two weeks of the English Football League were 150,000 across 72 games. That's just over 2,000 per game. Admittedly, viewers are charged £10. Yes, Rashid Khan playing cricket is more attractive than (to me, at least) than some League Two lump of a centre half hacking the ball upfield, but don't a lot people go to T20 to drink beer and soak up the atmosphere? Would they tune in to a live feed? Some ex-pats may tune in from overseas, but would someone in Afghanistan fork out £5 to watch their national hero playing a game at Hove in the middle of their night? Further, the quality of the live feed needs to be good and there needs to be 'experts' on hand, pre-match features and post-match interviews, I suspect. I've no idea what this costs. You may be right that there is a market ready and waiting. I don't know if I'm typical or not, but for me: - T20 is OK on a live feed as long as the camera work is good. It avoids the crowds, the problem of parking, driving two hours for two hours' entertainment. Although I often only watch part of a game when it's on live feed, so would I pay to watch the run chase only, for example?
- I rarely watch County Championship games online unless there is something exciting going on or victory is near (which is all too rare lately!). I prefer a relaxing day at Hove more than anything else about cricket, so being there is what matters to me.
- RLODC - I can't see me bothering to watch unless Sussex need to win a game to qualify, for example. That hasn't looked on the cards for a while.
If the T20 Blast was the only tournament of its type with the stars, it might work, but the stars are easy to watch around the world now.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 9, 2021 13:02:01 GMT
Philh, I am a lot more positive than yourself re: live streaming matches. I cite Somerset CCC as a good example. The county were the first to pilot live streaming in 2017. The following year, Somerset attracted over 500,000 views. The streaming included over 163,000 hours of County Cricket with the average viewer tuning in for around 20 minutes. Over 80% of the viewers were from the UK, but Somerset matches were watched all over the world. Examples of the worldwide reach include 7000 viewers from Kuwait, 2000 from Nepal, 1000 from Iraq, 450 viewers from Japan and 180 viewers from South Korea! In addition to this, real time clips and videos shared on the Club’s social media channels had a whopping 13.2 million views over the season and the Somerset website boasted a record-breaking summer with 4.8 million hits. Somerset’s win over Notts Outlaws was the highest viewed match of the season, while day two of the Specsavers County Championship match against Lancashire brought about the highest concurrent viewership. Somerset’s Digital Marketing and Communications Executive, Ben Warren commented, “The streaming numbers are amazing but the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive. From fans watching across the globe to people following Somerset for the first time, some of the stories I have read from supporters are incredible. Our main priority is to help bring County Cricket to a wider audience and to make it easier for our existing fans to follow the action on the pitch. We are working really hard this winter to improve the service and I can’t wait to start broadcasting again in 2019!” By 2019, these viewing numbers increased from over 500,000 to 1.1m, but in 2020, primarily due to the pandemic, this number leapt to 2.7m. The BreakdownTotal views: 2,697,119 Total watch hours: 175,388 Countries viewed: 101 Average watch time (UK): 28 minutes Highest peak concurrent: 23,433 Most popular match: Somerset vs Gloucestershire (Vitality Blast) Note the number of different countries who viewed: 101. If Somerset charge for its live streaming service this year, think of the money the county could make. www.somersetcountycc.co.uk/news/club-news/over-two-million-views-on-live-streaming-service-2/
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Post by philh on Feb 9, 2021 17:30:52 GMT
The figures are, indeed, quite impressive, @"wicked cricket". What I don't know is how far these figures would drop if they charged £10, £5, £1, 50p, 10p. I'm not sure what price point or pricing model would maximise profit. A flat rate per match is probably most convenient, but what if you want to dip in for 30 minutes while you have lunch on a couple of days of a CC match (like me) - the average visit time on the Somerset site was 28 minutes. I can see that T20 packages fit more neatly as there is a good chance that someone wants to watch the whole thing. After that, I'm not sure.
Looking at the Somerset data, if you charged £1 per view, it's good revenue if they all coughed up, but presumably a lot of those would disappear if there was a £1 charge. If it's £1 per hour viewed, it's not so much revenue, even if there are three times as many viewing occasions with a minimum charge of one hour.
Two things that bother me are, firstly, why aren't Somerset implementing this if it is a gold mine? Secondly, even though newspapers are a different kettle of fish, aren't the facts about newspaper paywalls fairly disappointing? I'm sure I have read that the click through rate is remarkably small when people hit a paywall.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 10, 2021 12:37:04 GMT
Philh,
"...a lot of those would disappear if there was a £1 charge"
I do not understand your negativity.
If you are a supporter of a county cricket club and unable to watch the team play live at its home ground due to the pandemic, why wouldn't you want to pay £5, let alone £1 to watch a competitive match? If not, then you are not a supporter. To repeat, I do not understand your stance.
To set-up a successful pay to view live stream service does not require that much organisation either. So what would the live-stream manager/co-ordinator need to do?
An obvious payment model to emulate is NOW TV and its partnership with SKY Sports. For £9.99 you gain access to 24 hours of SKY Sports live coverage alongside added documentaries and features. Sussex CCC could charge £9.99 to watch a 4 day Championship match, which to me seems a very fair price. You can dip in and out at will over those 4 days. For both T20 and RLC, the fee could be £4.99 which covers the game from the build-up to end of match interviews.
The only investment that Sussex presently need to carry out is the creation of a TV studio, based on the SKY Sports model. There is a host (perhaps, the Club's media officer Sam Keir) and say three pundits. Examples could be Chris Adams, Matt Prior and Chris Nash whom Keir chats to before and after the games. Obviously, the pundits would vary from game to game. There would also need to be an editing suite and a TV producer liaising over the event. Somerset CCC use 5 cameras for its live stream. Two fixed at either end of the pitch and three roving ones, offering different angles and visuals. These cameras could also be used to interview players on the outfield before and after a match. Commentary of the live stream is already in situ with Adrian Harms and one other representing the opposing team.
The longer Championship format could include cricket magazine style snippets during the lunch and tea intervals. Perhaps, interviews with past Sussex greats and the like. Again, this would be straight-forward to incorporate. What Sussex need to do is improve the professionalism of its present overall coverage. Somerset have achieved this, so why can't Sussex?
If need be arrange a meeting with the Somerset media people responsible for organising its club’s live stream matches for advice and assistance.
...why aren't Somerset implementing this if it is a gold mine? I am not sure, but one reason could be that the ECB do not want the counties to become financially independent. Perhaps, there are regulations stopping them from making money via live streaming? There is the small matter of the ECB not wanting to upset SKY Sports and all that HUGE money they gain from the media rights, especially with the impending '100'. County independence is bad news. For example, if live-streaming becomes a goldmine, suddenly counties are financially independent and the Board's annual money is not needed anymore. This means if the ECB require an England star player for an international and the county this cricketer is signed to, has an important T20 semi-final, two fingers up to the Board.
Just speculation, of course.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 10, 2021 17:24:24 GMT
The Sussex Cricketer Pub is now a pile of rubble with a mountaineer on top. All that's required is a flagpole with a Union Jack fluttering from it.
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Post by ashingtonmartlet on Feb 11, 2021 0:37:28 GMT
Going back to rate streaming of T20 matches in particular, if the game is televised then I don’t believe it can be streamed in the UK, so that would reduce the viewing figures and potential revenue.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 11, 2021 12:13:48 GMT
Am,
I agree only non-SKY televised matches can be live-streamed by the counties.
Meanwhile, back in Yabba Dhabba Abu:
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Post by philh on Feb 11, 2021 13:00:55 GMT
Philh, "...a lot of those would disappear if there was a £1 charge"
I do not understand your negativity. If you are a supporter of a county cricket club and unable to watch the team play live at its home ground due to the pandemic, why wouldn't you want to pay £5, let alone £1 to watch a competitive match? If not, then you are not a supporter. To repeat, I do not understand your stance. I am not trying to be negative. And, yes, you are right, as a supporter of a county cricket club, I would pay for many games unless I was busy. My comments are more to do with reality and human behaviour. There's an experiment conducted by a psychologist where he stood outside one of the London rail termini and gave away a quality brand of chocolate bar to commuters. Most people took one. The next day, he repeated the experiment charging 5p (it may have been 1p) for this far more expensive brand - he had few takers. We can safely assume that almost all the commuters had 5p in their pocket and they could all afford it, but why didn't they buy? Parting with money is an irrational behaviour. Your clip of Chris Jordan above was nice to watch. If I had to pay 10p to watch it, would I have watched it assuming it wasn't available elsewhere? Maybe, but probably not. My argument is not whether loyal supporters will pay. It's whether the next tier of supporters (interested in Sussex cricket, but can take it or leave it) would pay what I agree is a relatively small sum and a sum that many can afford. Comparing what people pay for Sky is a fallacy. Their marketing and a general public attitude of "that's what you have to pay if you want live sport" is different from the marketing Sussex CCC can achieve. I'll stop now. I hope you are right and it works.
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Post by flashblade on Feb 11, 2021 13:21:56 GMT
Philh, "...a lot of those would disappear if there was a £1 charge"
I do not understand your negativity. If you are a supporter of a county cricket club and unable to watch the team play live at its home ground due to the pandemic, why wouldn't you want to pay £5, let alone £1 to watch a competitive match? If not, then you are not a supporter. To repeat, I do not understand your stance. I am not trying to be negative. And, yes, you are right, as a supporter of a county cricket club, I would pay for many games unless I was busy. My comments are more to do with reality and human behaviour. There's an experiment conducted by a psychologist where he stood outside one of the London rail termini and gave away a quality brand of chocolate bar to commuters. Most people took one. The next day, he repeated the experiment charging 5p (it may have been 1p) for this far more expensive brand - he had few takers. We can safely assume that almost all the commuters had 5p in their pocket and they could all afford it, but why didn't they buy? Parting with money is an irrational behaviour. Your clip of Chris Jordan above was nice to watch. If I had to pay 10p to watch it, would I have watched it assuming it wasn't available elsewhere? Maybe, but probably not. My argument is not whether loyal supporters will pay. It's whether the next tier of supporters (interested in Sussex cricket, but can take it or leave it) would pay what I agree is a relatively small sum and a sum that many can afford. Comparing what people pay for Sky is a fallacy. Their marketing and a general public attitude of "that's what you have to pay if you want live sport" is different from the marketing Sussex CCC can achieve. I'll stop now. I hope you are right and it works. We just need to accept that human behavior is often irrational. Frustrating, but that's life!
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 11, 2021 13:28:15 GMT
Philh,
Comparing what people pay for Sky is a fallacy. Their marketing and a general public attitude of "that's what you have to pay if you want live sport" is different from the marketing Sussex CCC can achieve.
Imho, it is about mentally programming the public to accept a new way of looking at things. Televised pay to view county cricket games is a new concept, agreed, but the mental programming via £££ multi-million marketing campaigns during the last three decades has been already carried out by companies like SKY and more recently BT Sport. In that respect, it is nothing new.
I don’t purchase SKY, only BT Sport, but if I want to watch sport not shown on BT and only on SKY, I will pay NOW TV as the affiliate. I am happy to spend a one-off fee of £9.99 to watch often one or two football matches over a 24 hour period or a day’s play of international cricket. I am mentally programmed to accept this financial payment just as a majority of sports fans are and this acceptance has only been cemented since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Therefore, Sussex supporters paying a nominal fee to watch Club matches via pay-to-view is not a problem, imho. It does not require massive amounts of marketing money either, just a minimal promotion sum for each match featured, much of which could be done for FREE via the Club’s website. But, and most importantly, the coverage must be very professional as people’s expectations are high after regularly watching SKY and BT Sports.
My question like yours, is why haven’t counties embraced this concept yet, when there is vital and life-saving county cricket money to be made?
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 11, 2021 14:44:04 GMT
It just gets better and better.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 11, 2021 15:01:02 GMT
After missing out on the Abu Dhabi T10 competition due to cancelled flights and Covid-19 quarantine restrictions, let us hope David Wiese doesn't suffer a similar fate when he arrives in England for the T20 tournament.
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Post by liquidskin on Feb 13, 2021 11:38:20 GMT
Good player but wrong signing. We've got all-rounders in Garton & Jordan, we need a top order bat who keeps, it's obvious, and the people calling the shots should be able to see it. De kock like.
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