England vs Ukraine ruined by the Internet

Like every football fan in England I am shocked to hear the news that the England, Ukraine game (which is a world cup qualifying game) is only to be streamed on the internet.  Not only that it is only being streamed on the internet you will have to pay a minimum £4.99 and maybe even as much as £11.99 to watch the game.  Meaning you can not even go down to the pub with friends and support your country at its national game.  So for any normal England fan this is outrageous news.

The facts are that this game was originally meant to be show on Setanta Sports until the company went bust earlier this year. With the FA not able to control where away games are sold, the Ukraine football federation has now sold the rights to Perform.  leaving the English public to watch the game at home around the computer at http://www.ukrainevengland.com/.

There are a few thing that disappoint me about this move.  1) the game can only be brought by 1 million computers with the estimate of 2.5 million people watching. There is a population of around 51 million in England this means only 1 in 25 people are estimated to be able to watch the game.  2) people already pay for the television license, Sky and even ESPN and still we are unable to see every England football game. Leaving people now having to pay even more to watch the game on the internet.  3) Finally football and pubs go hand in hand. Be it a sunday football team playing for there local pub, to going for a for a beer with friends and watching the football on the pub television. Playing the England game on the internet will take that custom away from pubs around the country as they are unable to screen the game.

Dont get me wrong I think showing football on the internet is a great idea but dont make people pay for it and most importantly leave it on television so a wider audience can watch it. I personally love going to the pub and watching England play with my mates. Unfortunately I wont be able to do this with this game.

Overall I hope that football see this is a mistake, especial at a national football level and do not do it again. As a wise person once said we can only learn from our mistakes, and having the England vs Ukraine football game only being streamed on the internet is a huge mistake.

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