English Premier League ignites debate among soccer fans and pundits over their blackout policy

The English Premier League has been blacking out soccer games that kick off between 2:45 and 5:15 GMT in Great Britain. The blackout policy has existed since the 1960s when Burnley chairmen Bob Lord feared that fans would rather stay home and watch the “big” games such as Manchester United vs Liverpool than support their local club. As a result, only 154 games out of 380 games can be watched live in a EPL season.

In recent years, the debate about whether or not the EPL should uphold their blackout policy has been raging. In a poll held by British newspaper The Telegraph,  92% of fans were found to be for the cancellation of the current blackout policy.

Telegraph editor Luke Edwards argues that British fans should have the ability to watch live football matches at places other than pubs on Saturdays. Edwards claims that the EPL has already violated many of the old traditions held by fans, and that the tradition of being able to go to the pubs to watch live matches should be protected.

“If there is one final tradition worth protecting in English football,” Edwards wrote in an article in 2015. “It is the fact you can only watch a live game of football at 3pm on a Saturday if you take the trouble to get off your backside and leave the house for somewhere other than the pub.”

Edwards also argues that fans should have the option to watch the big match ups live at will. He believes that fans especially should have the option since they already pay television subscription.

“Why bother taking the family to watch your local team play when you can stay at home and watch Chelsea vs West Ham all for the price of the television subscription you already pay,” he said.

Telegraph editor Chris Bascombe has other opinions in mind, as he contends that the EPL blackout policy barely affects the fan’s ability to watch the games. Bascombe argues that even though the blackout policy stands, fans will always find a way to view the big matchups.

“It doesn’t matter how much it is forbidden, supporters are still finding a way to indulge. Instead of making it illegal it would make more sense to regulate it,” Bascombe said.

Bascombe claims that most English fans will usually go to pubs on the big matchup days and in that manner, watch the Saturday matchups.

“Walk around most cities on a matchday and numerous pubs will quite openly advertise live football at 3pm, much to the Premier League’s irritation,” he said.

Previously mentioned, the blackout policy was previously put in place in order to improve attendance for local teams. BostiInno writer Hayden Bird from says otherwise. Bird claims that the blackout policy has had absolutely no effect on attendance for local teams.

“Of course, whether or not the blackout rule actually does prop up attendance for local teams is debatable," Bird wrote in a 2015 BostiInno article. “Looking across at the German Bundesliga, attendance has actually climbed in the last 15 years, even though games are broadcast at all times.”

Football is considered to be the biggest national pastime in Great Britain. The debate of whether or not this blackout policy should be upheld is still a contentious issue. There seems to be no resolution for the fans in a near future. However as Bascombe said, there will always be a way for fans to indulge in “The Beautiful Game.”

Authored by Erick Romero, Andre Alexander

Twitter: What athletes should be aware of

Darron Gibson / Dailymail.Co.Uk

Social networking sites have effectively broken down the barrier between athletes and fans. Many athletes have joined one of the more popular sites, Twitter to keep their fans updated on what they are doing, and to also see what their fans have to say about them. This is a huge privilege and would have seemed unthinkable twenty years ago. While many fans make the best of their interactions with these athletes on Twitter, some take advantage of these privileges and abuse the athletes with hurtful posts directed at them. This abuse may even effect the athletes performance, and athletes should now think twice before deciding to join the social networking revolution.

A perfect example of an athlete that has received abuse on Twitter is young Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson. The midfielder joined Twitter to join his “Twitter Famous” teammates Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, after seeing the success they had on their accounts. Rio Ferdinand gave Gibson a warm welcome to the site, tweeting, "We have a new member from the Man utd crew... @dgibbo28 has joined twitterverse show him some love tweeps!"

His first impression on the site did not go as planned however, and within two hours he had already received a plethora of abusive tweets from United fans. Gibson quickly shut his account down, but the damage had already been done. Some of the tweets that were directed at him include :

“@dgibbo28 the biggest compliment i can give you is that you are better than Carrick”
“@dgibbo28 your performance on saturday was one of the worst I've ever seen of any utd player. scared of the ball much? “
“@dgibbo28 hasn't tweeted yet. Seems somewhat fitting after the countless anonymous performances we've seen from the 'footballer”

After his account was deactivated, fans wanted him to reactivate the account and a #getbackgibbo hashtag started to trend. Gibson refused to comment on the matter, but his reaction was noted on the field. He did not get playing time until two weeks later, in a Champions League semifinal clash against German side Schalke 04. Gibson started the match in the centre of United’s midfield, and the Irishman disappointed greatly. He was subbed at half time and United won the game 4-1.

Gibson ended up making two more appearances that year before he was deemed not good enough to play for the Red Devils. True Manchester United fans were disappointed because the once promising midfielder was now just a wasted talent. The abusive comments aimed at Darron Gibson undoubtedly took a blow at his confidence, and perhaps caused his string of bad performances.

Twitter has the ability to ruin an athlete's career, and Darron Gibson learned the hard way. Athletes should be aware that while Twitter gives fans an opportunity to stay updated on the athlete's life, it can also give fans the opportunity for fans to post abusive comments about them.

Social media, a change for the better?

Many people use social media such as Twitter and Facebook, for these are ways to send and receive information faster than newspapers. However, when sports start to ban social media, many questions arise wondering if social media is good or bad for the sport.



Some major social media used by many



Manchester United is a soccer team that banned the use of social media. Many of its members’ Facebook and Twitter accounts were closed right after the policy came down. Manchester United said that banning social media keeps the teams reputation safe and protects inside information without it being revealed to the public. Shortly after Manchester United’s ban, their rival Manchester City also banned the use of social media.

However; soccer is not the only sport being affected. The National Football League and The US Open also ban the use of any social media during a game. Andy Roddick, who plays in the US open said, “I think its lame the US Open is trying to regulate our tweeting. … I understand the on-court issue but not sure they can tell us if we can.”

This seems that social media is a bad influence on sports, but there are others that argue social media has positive influence. Many sports fans using Twitter or Facebook check on their favorite players and see how they played in recent games. They could also have a chance of talking to favorite player. Sports teams also can use social media as a chance to generate revenue. The Jets used social media and gained many fans by giving away prizes such as tickets to games.

Sport fans say sports teams should just adopt the way social media is going to affect them, because of its positive results affecting both sports and sport fans alike. Adam Ostrow, chief editor of Mashable said, “Social media should be viewed as a fantastic compliment to sports that is good for both fans and the TV networks, but at the moment, it seems that’s anything but how it’s being perceived.”