It’s only taken 11 months and three lockdowns, but older football fans have finally got the hang of the iPad and they have boosted the viewing figures for matches in the English Football League to almost three million live streams.
The EFL’s streaming service is expected to surpass that landmark figure if enough matches survive the big freeze this weekend.
Fans have been mostly banned from grounds due to the coronavirus pandemic since March.
And while the £20m of revenue generated by the 72 clubs in the Championship, Leagues One and Two from live streaming games is only a fraction of what they would have received if supporters were allowed to attend games, it is still an invaluable lifeline.
Nine of the 10 most watched EFL matches this season have involved Norwich City
‘It has been a lifesaver,’ said Robbie Cowling, chairman at League Two Colchester United. ‘And it has grown.
‘We have noticed that older people are getting more involved. A lot of them are internet savvy. But where they don’t have great IT skills, we find that if they have to do it to follow their team, they find a way.
‘And then sons and daughters are helping.
‘At the moment, I have six or seven months of salaries to find and almost no revenue. The iFollow revenue is it.
‘It nowhere near fills a gap, but it is something and it keeps our fans engaged. It is easy for them to lose interest if there is no way of watching the games.’
Colchester United have seen an increase in older fans watching their games via streaming
Across the EFL, the over 65s make up the biggest proportion of season ticket holders viewing games at more than 20% of the total. And it is similar for the sale of one-off match passes.
Nine of the ten most watched games this season have involved the Championship high flyers, Norwich City, who have more than 20,000 season ticket holders as they bid to return to the Premier League.
EFL officials anticipate there will have been around five million streams by the end of the season, compared to the usual 18 million fans through the turnstiles.
But, officials say more than one person often watches a live stream, so the total number of supporters viewing games is higher than the figures initially suggest.
The EFL offers an iFollow streaming service, which costs £10 for a match day pass
Most clubs use the EFL’s iFollow service, which was launched in 2017 for supporters living overseas. A year later, it was made available in the UK for midweek games, and is now crucial in and out of lockdowns.
On average, supporters at an EFL game spend about £30 per head, but an EFL match pass is just £10. At Colchester, Cowling said he would take £54,000 from a home game against Bolton with gates open, but took just £8,000 via streaming earlier this season.
The income is split between the home and away team in different ways.
In the Championship, home clubs take all the money from streams they sell. In League One, it is split by a formula devising what the attendance might have been. And in League Two, the hosts take the first 500 streams sold by the away team.
On average a Championship match makes £47,000 in gross revenue through streaming, in League One it is £22,000 and League Two, £12,000.
The most watched match this season has been Norwich City’s win over Nottingham Forest
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However, a crucial benefit from the increase in streaming has been the retention of season ticket income.
Season ticket holders can access the stream for no additional charge using a code. Without it, clubs would have had to refund their fans, at a time when every penny counts.
While football and footballers have been criticised at times during the pandemic for setting a poor example in terms of social distancing, there has been a lot of good work that has gone largely unseen by the wider public.
Clubs have supported older people through phone calls, food parcels and providing tablets and iPads so they can watch online.
Derby County is one of the EFL clubs supporting older people, providing tablets and iPads
Championship club, Derby County, is one of them.
Defender Curtis Davies has kaken time out of the side’s relegation battle and promoted the IT loan scheme and met some of the recipients.
‘It helps those who do not have tech to keep in touch,’ the player told the club’s website as he prepared for a surprise Zoom call with an older fan.
Derby installed Rams TV on the device so the fan, who admitted he was ‘bored to tear’ by lockdown, could watch the team play.