Friday Freebie: Streaming model needs some work

It's here to stay, how do we make it work better?

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Streaming games has been a part of our culture since 2020 in non-league football. Whilst clubs before that time had their games recorded right down to Step 6 and even below most were highlights uploaded to YouTube or other channels.

When I was involved at Wick in West Sussex we involved Your Instant Replay (YIR) from Brighton to film our games prior to 2019. The highlights were then uploaded to said YouTube channel by Sunday morning and we were regularly getting 100 views to begin with rising to 200, not bad for a Step 6 County League club.

Since then it’s moved on in big leaps and bounds. In 2020 clubs had to find ways to show games whilst fans weren’t allowed in stadiums, YIR were involved in some of that eventually ending up at National League Barnet where unfortunately things didn’t quite work out with issues outside of their control.

Their own success since those days has more than tripled covering Premier League Under 21 and 18 action regularly along with various clubs within the non-league pyramid, the coverage excellent and wanted. More and more clubs I see on their Twitter/X page are signing up, and I can’t say I’m surprised.

Clubs want the publicity, players want to see themselves on film and why wouldn’t you, it’s helpful no doubt for reviewing by management teams and also if they need help with evidence against red cards and other such things.

The National League itself has also moved on with it’s streaming service, pushed forward by Wrexham last season in order for their army of American fans to be able to watch their side in action. In partnership with then BT Sport the service was a mixed review as it has been at times this season.

Teething problems still occur, refunds hard to come by, and the coverage itself sometimes not at a level where it should be for non-league’s top division. After last season’s trial they added both the National League North and South divisions to a full portfolio for this year, however just a couple of weeks ago they announced that streaming for those two divisions will be cut short into three selected games every matchday programme.

No doubt there are a few questions to answer, such as did they move to quickly just to appease Wrexham and it’s Hollywood owners? Was bringing Step 2 divisions online in full transparency a wise decision? Is the business causing disjointed returns for a majority of clubs?

Well, let’s have a look at those. Plans were starting to develop from the National League after 2020 to provide a platform for supporters to watch having seen there is an appetite for it and also as time moves forward another revenue line as well.

The growth of Wrexham no doubt contributed to the process moving quicker than the league were ready for in my opinion. And while they only stayed for a year’s worth of streaming the rest are paying for the teething problems that should have been resolved years ago instead of still happening now.

The decision to bring both Step 2 divisions on board in full was never going to generate a return versus the equipment and camera operator wages. Attendances in person of course do not match the National League itself across 24 clubs in each division and a conversion rate to streaming was always going to provide a loss on the current business model.

Their move to pick the top three games in the North and South each weekend should bring better figures but until the business model changes then clubs just don’t won’t benefit as they should do from the service.

The distribution model is completely wrong, if it’s changed please correct me I but I don’t think it has. Currently, or as I understand it still, the money for each game is divided up so the home doesn’t fully benefit.

As a supporter you can choose your club as you register, all that means however is if for example I watch Barnet home or away they would get a majority of my money paid. But, they don’t get the complete amount, it get’s split around the other clubs so a few pence for them all each when I’ve not been watching their game at all, that also included the National League North and South clubs as well.

The league itself take a percentage for admin costs, no issue with that at all. If I hadn’t registered for any club at the beginning then the full amount is split equally between all clubs.

But why should everyone be benefiting if I have watched Barnet in a home game? I’m there watching a stream because I couldn’t get to The Hive, surely the money goes straight to them minus the admin fee? Similarly if I’m watching Barnet away why aren’t the home side getting the full benefit as if I was there watching live?

In that respect for me watching the Bees away from home they shouldn’t be getting any financial reward, after all they wouldn’t if I was there live. No one else should be benefiting bar the home side in all these games, no one else would be benefiting if you attended the game baring FA competitions which of course aren’t part of the streaming service.

If the model has changed then I hope it’s into a more sensible sense of distribution however I haven’t seen anything different to how I understand it still to be. Maybe a highlights service for all the clubs in Step 2 would make better sense behind a paywall rather than a full match package that just doesn’t sell enough.

YIR believe there is a way to stream all the North and South games and continue the service, I shall be following that closely to see if indeed the National League make contact and there is a better way of doing it, it’s absolutely something that is here to stay but money is the talking point as always.

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But what do you think? Have you personally had good or bad streaming experiences? Is there anything you would change to improve the service? Let me know in the comments below.