While men’s football works out whether to scrap the 3pm blackout, women’s matches offer a perfect test case, argues Anna Reynolds.
Imagine being barred from watching your favourite TV programme at a certain time of the day. That’s the current situation in football, where games scheduled for Saturday at 3pm are restricted from being broadcast live in the UK.
While the rule has been in effect since the 1960s, this week reports resurfaced that the Football Association and English Football League are considering scrapping the blackout for the next round of domestic media rights contracts.
The core argument behind the 3pm blackout is that it protects revenue for lower- and non-league clubs which rely heavily on matchday revenues.
But given that 8.4m viewers of live Women’s Super League football last year didn’t see any live Premier League football, would showing WSL games on Saturday afternoons really have any impact?
If there’s little crossover between the two, why wouldn’t you promote the women’s game more by showing WSL matches during this window?
Social media means that fans can view goal highlights minutes after they’re scored. Meanwhile millions use illegal streaming sites every weekend, which suggests it isn’t a huge deterrent.
It’s also worth pointing out that the UK is the last country in Europe to still implement the Saturday blackout.
Loopholes have emerged over the past few years. This season’s new EFL deal will see more than 1,000 matches a year screened live on TV, with a big increase in the number of matches played at other times or on different days.
The Premier League has also seen the number of 3pm kick-offs drop dramatically to get around the ban, with only three due to take place this coming Saturday.
All that being said, the biggest issue is arguably the knock-on effect the ban is having on other sports – namely women’s games. The blackout also covers the WSL, and although the FA had pushed for the league to be exempt from the rule, a consensus hasn’t yet been reached by English football’s governing bodies and leagues.
This leaves the WSL competing for attention, mostly on Sundays, with other major sports such as men’s football, rugby and Formula 1.
Scheduling has become one of the most notable obstacles preventing women’s football from growing given that these sports have had several decades’ head start in building out professional structures and dedicated fanbases.
Scheduling clashes mean that the women’s game lacks consistency. Matches are often broadcast at random times during the week rather than having regular slots, and very rarely at prime times.
For example, this weekend’s WSL match between Chelsea and Brighton is scheduled at the same time as the men’s London derby between Fulham and Arsenal.
While the latter will be shown on live TV to millions of fans, the former will be totally reliant on live attendees and highlight packages to drum up interest.
Until the men’s game works out what it wants to do in the future, it would be a useful test case to see what would happen with the women’s game if it were exempt from the 3pm blackout.
Finding a consistent time to show matches wouldn’t deter live audiences; if anything, it would help drive interest and boost demand to watch matches in person, as well as garnering more interest for the game in general.
There’s been a meteoric rise in women’s football over the past few years. Rather than having age-old laws preventing its growth, we should be showing it the red card and allowing the women’s game to reach its full potential.
Anna Reynolds is a consultant at Yonder Consulting.