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Predicting the future of football: ‘Premflix’ and fans paying more
In 1992, Sky won the rights to broadcast the newly established Premier League in a £304m five-year deal. Two years later, Duncanson predicted that the power broadcasters had over football would proliferate to an extent not yet seen.
“If you think television is too powerful in sport now, in 10 years’ time you won’t believe the control that they’ll have,” he said.
Duncanson also speculated that fans in 2004 would watch football through subscription and pay-per-view services.
“He’ll watch it on his own local Newcastle cable station because the BBC or ITV won’t be able to afford the rights to the game,” he said.
“The cable operator will have paid a fortune for it, but he knows he’ll get the money back from subscription.
“It’s probably going to be done on pay-per-view, so you’ll put a card and a number on your telephone, tap it in, five quid docked from your account, the game pops up.”
More three decades on, subscription-funded broadcasters continue to be the gatekeepers of top-flight English football.
In 2023, the Premier League agreed a record four-year £6.7bn domestic television deal for Sky and TNT to show up to 270 live games a season from 2025-26.
Reflecting on his original predictions, Duncanson said it “wasn’t rocket science” to see where things were going “if you followed the money”.
“Sky had changed the game by spending so much money on rights because it established them as a major satellite power, and they continue to this day,” he said.
Casting his eye towards the future, Duncanson sees the nature of subscription viewing changing.
“We’re all going to learn a new acronym: DTC – direct-to-customer,” he said.
“There is a bit of a push-back now with subscription prices rising, from football fans who say, ‘Why do I have to pay so much money? I don’t want to watch cricket or rugby or motorsport or whatever. I just want to watch my team play.’”
Taking its cue from the NFL, NBA and Formula 1, Duncanson believes the Premier League will increasingly evolve into a rights holder and broadcast platform.
“The Premier League next season are going to start their own channel in Singapore. If that’s a success, you can see that being rolled out into other territories,” he said.
“You’ll be watching ‘Premflix’ or ‘Fifa TV’ or ‘Uefa+’, or any of them who have got that level of valuable football.”
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Commonwealth Games: Megan Keith claims bronze for Scotland in 5000m infront of 100-year-old grandad
Given Keith herself was a tad surprised she scooped up a medal here, her grandad’s take on the event ought to be a good one.
The 10,000m is her preference, but the longer distance final did not go to plan on Monday and she finished seventh.
The Inverness athlete said she was faced with the ‘can Megan win a medal?’ talk earlier this week, but with that weight of expectation lifted – combined with experience of the home crowd and “the help of two other Scots in the race” – she was freed from the shackles to soar to a classy and courageous run.
“If you look at Monday on paper, that was pretty disappointing,” the 24-year-old added.
“I don’t think you’d put me in the running for a 5km medal since the 10km is normally closer to being my strength, so that definitely helped, the removal of that pressure.
“I think I knew if I felt horrendous and dropped out or fell off the pace again it wouldn’t really matter so I may as well shoot my shot.”
And shoot she did. Biding her time in the middle of the congested pact, Keith made her move with four laps to go, weaving past early pacesetters from Kenya and Uganda.
She was afforded a bit of breathing space with two hurls around the track to go. But as expected, the exceptional Australian duo of Rose Davies – who made it a double gold at these Games with her 10km – and Jessica Hull, the 1500m Olympic silver medallist, entered another gear in the final lap.
While the cameras focused on the tremendous tussle between the pair in the matching yellow vests, the majority of the crowd had their eyes a wee bit further back, bawling at Keith on the final stretch.
She was home safe and sound. And swiftly searching for a saltire.
Once that was draped over her shoulders, and she’d caught up with fellow Scots Eloise Walker and Laura Muir, who finished 15th and 16th respectively, she was darting back around the track – the wrong way, this time – in search of her grandad.
He was eventually found for a quick hug, but a bigger debrief – and the declaration, surely, that this topped any other Scotstoun occasion – is still to be had.
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Commonwealth Games 2026: England netball team beat South Africa to reach semi-finals
England’s netballers reached the Commonwealth Games semi-finals after producing a pulsating comeback to beat South Africa 58-54.
With both sides tied on six points but the Roses ahead of the Proteas on goal average in pool A’s second spot going into the game, England had to avoid defeat to progress.
Elmere van der Berg was in fine form early on to fire South Africa into a six-goal lead at the end of the first quarter with 16 of her nation’s 17 goals, leaving England facing an uphill task.
But some excellent and aggressive defensive work by second-quarter substitute Halimat Adio helped England spring multiple counter-attacks to claw their way back to just 29-28 down at the halfway stage.
The Roses started to take control in the third quarter, opening up a seven-goal lead at one stage before the Proteas netted three times in quick succession to go into the final 15 minutes 43-39 behind.
Both sides then went blow for blow in a compelling final quarter with 15 goals apiece, but 2018 champions England held on to ensure they maintained their record of qualifying for every Commonwealth Games semi-final since the inaugural netball event in 1998.
England will face New Zealand in the last four on Saturday, while South Africa’s wait for a first semi-final since 1998 goes on.
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Fifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino’s investment plans go through
In a statement released after Thursday’s meeting, which was held virtually and chaired by president Aleksander Ceferin, Uefa said it and its 55 member associations “stand as one”.
“We unanimously and unequivocally reject Fifa’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors,” it said.
On Wednesday, Uefa had accused Fifa of using football “to enrich themselves and their friends”.
Its statement on Thursday was even more damning, calling it “irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret” and “without any meaningful consultation” with those who steward the game.
It added: “This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of Fifa’s duty as the custodian of world football.
“National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences.
“This is not a ‘democratic decision’, but governance by intimidation – an act of coercion unworthy of an institution entrusted with the stewardship of the global game.”
While Uefa only accounts for a quarter of Fifa’s membership, it does include most of the world’s most successful teams.
Six of the eight quarter-finalists – including winners Spain – at this summer’s World Cup were European. In the 2022 and 2018 editions, the figures were five and six respectively.
Of the 23 World Cups to have taken place to date, 13 have been won by European countries.
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CK Updates14 hours agoFifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino’s investment plans go through
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CK Updates8 hours agoCommonwealth Games 2026: England netball team beat South Africa to reach semi-finals
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CK Updates20 hours agoStephen Fleming: England appoint former New Zealand captain as Test coach, with Joe Root captain
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CK Updates2 hours agoCommonwealth Games: Megan Keith claims bronze for Scotland in 5000m infront of 100-year-old grandad

