iFollow not working yet again?

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

39 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

I'd go further - if somewhere there was a designated NCFC channel showing every game, I would buy into it.  I don't know what Sky costs these days, £40 a month? I will never pay that for Sky, but would pay that to watch every game of ours - probably more than a season ticket costs.  

Exclusive club channels then?  It surely has to come, whether it is on Sky or elsewhere.

Agree a thousandfold, the mad thing is, if we get promoted , every single game will be available using a multitude of ''Brooksides'', as Palace v Chelsea is at the moment in very reliable formats....Free!!! It just doesnt make sense to me.

I am an otherwise law abiding citizen, all ex transport cops from the north norfolk line please take note.

[kick it off 1,952]

Same with NFL. I am able to access streams of all games but i actually pay to get it in HD with no hassle. Id do the same for Norwich legally if i could (as it stands i shall continue doing it illegally instead.)

[T 190]

I follow is effectively an exclusive club channel. They provide the infrastructure so that individual clubs don’t have to unless they want.  simple economies of scale and specialism. The question is whether the EFL wants to sell live licences for all games in the UK. No doubt they have done the analysis and the answer is no it does not make sense commercially. 

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

Can't say i agree T, the more commercially attractive a game, the more 'other free options' to watch it are available. Sky/BT etc seem pretty powerless to stop it, so why not make all games available, at a price.

[T 190]

There is no technology reason why they can not do it. Professional football is clearly out to make as much money as possible so clearly the EFL will have analysed the situation and decided that it does not make commercial sense to sell live coverage for all games in the UK. Why else would they not do it when they easily could. 

[kick it off 1,952]

45 minutes ago, T said:

There is no technology reason why they can not do it. Professional football is clearly out to make as much money as possible so clearly the EFL will have analysed the situation and decided that it does not make commercial sense to sell live coverage for all games in the UK. Why else would they not do it when they easily could. 

Because they probably wouldnt be able to pass a reversal of the blackout rule for a start... assuming that the majority of chairmen would need to agree to reverse it...

https://www.google.com/amp/www.punditarena.com/football/scurtin/premier-leagues-3pm-blackout-explained/amp/

Edited December 30, 2018 by kick it off

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I think it will come. It is one of the ways that clubs can increase revenue. We will always have the stadium pretty full with large season ticket sales as long as we have a measure of success and entertainment. How many would give up a season ticket if it cost the same to watch it on TV. Hardly anyone. Live sport is far more attractive and exiting.

But many clubs never will. They have too much competition. They will want the extra income to boost academies or transfer kitties. Or even just to avoid endless debt.

Why build a new stadium, unless the old one is falling down.Why increase capacity when the income can be provided by those 300 miles away.

[T 190]

Thanks good summary of my understanding. For sure they would make more money from people watching licensed streams who would not go to the game anyway but they would also lose money from tickets, merchandise, and catering as well as the risk of damaging the brand. The brand is critical. It is why some brands destroy stock rather than sell it cheap. The EU favours consumers but owners don’t want to take the commercial risk. 

[The Bristol Nest 513]

That is the direction of travel according to a friend in the industry.

[lake district canary 4,531]

18 hours ago, T said:

 For sure they would make more money from people watching licensed streams who would not go to the game anyway but they would also lose money from tickets, merchandise, and catering as well as the risk of damaging the brand.

If anyone who normally goes to CR would rather stay at home and watch it on TV than go to the match, well frankly, words fail me.

I think of the thousand upon thousand of people in Norfolk and around the world who have no way of getting to CR - those that are too far away, those that can't attend through infirmity or lack of transport, those that are working but could watch a replay of the match in the evening, those that simply can't afford £30 a match (plus travel plus food). 

Marketed well and including adverts before/half time/at the end along with a subscription of say £10 a match, there is a good source of income to be had for the club.  It's simply opening up the club to those who support the club but for whatever reason can't get there every week and don't give the club much financially.  

After all, would the club like some regular subscription income from me, or just the occasional match I can get to, which I would still do on top of any subscription?  Even if they only got £5 a match from me after their TV or internet  channel expenses, maybe my contribution added to maybe thousands of people around the world who would also be buying in to it, would amount to a significant amount.

£5 x around 50 matches = £250.  Times that by say 2000 contributors and suddenly it becomes £500,000. 

And don't tell me there aren't plenty of people just in Norfolk who don't go to matches but would buy into it, because there are.  My Dad was one who couldn't go very often due to health issues and used to sit and watch rugby union on bbc on a saturday afternoon, but was an avid fan - and there must be plenty of people in that position through age or illness, as well as the many further afield who are unable to get there.

 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I am not sure if £5 is enough. Maybe £5 per match for 46 matches=£230 but maybe casual at £10 per game. That would allow those home supporters who can't get to away games or someone like me who has a season ticket for 13 home rugby matches.

While we are doing well, I don't envisage the home attendance dropping off. Going to the game is an experience as much as anything and a good afternoon out.

Just as downloading has brought a whole new batch of music lovers compared to those who didn't want a ten track CD, streaming, at a cost, to those who are totally besotted or just a passing interest, has to be the way forward.

[T 190]

You are looking at it from your personal perspective rather than the perspective of the league owners who collectively make the decision. For sure there is income to be be gained from those who would not attend and for sure many would still come if a Licensed stream was available. However it is a collective league decision and their view is that they would lose more revenue from causal fans not attending than gain from people paying subscription  fees

NCFC is well attended at the moment but that is not always the case and it is certainly not the case for other clubs in the EFL. . An own subscription model makes sense for clubs that always sell out regardless but not for clubs with spare capacity   And who wants to watch a game on TV with an empty stadium. And I doubt if I would subscribe to ifollow if I had not gone to games when I was living in UK

it is not suffecient to think about the gain of income. It is necessry to also think about the loss of income and long term effects. And the collective view of those that make the decision is that the costs outweigh the benefits. 

As I said I would pay to watch cricket and there is no reason why it can’t be done but clearly there is insuffecient demand in the EU to generate suffecient revenue to cover the costs otherwise DAZN would do it as they do for other sports.

Clearly the owners who have more info on the costs and benefits have decided that the costs outway the benefits and that is why it is not available. That you and I want something and are willing to pay for it is not a suffecient condition for something to happen. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by T

[ripryan1971 0]

Hi there i'm new on here so excuse me if i don't know much lol. Can i ask if any of you have tried to buy a match day pass using a vpn, but with a uk address and debit card?  Just thought people on facebook say it works

 

Thanks in advance

Edited January 1, 2019 by ripryan1971

[kick it off 1,952]

2 hours ago, ripryan1971 said:

Hi there i'm new on here so excuse me if i don't know much lol. Can i ask if any of you have tried to buy a match day pass using a vpn, but with a uk address and debit card?  Just thought people on facebook say it works

 

Thanks in advance

Yep did it every game pretty much last season except the 10 or so i went to.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Today was the first time I had to disable my adblockers to receive the video. Just wondering that with all the little tinkering they are doing, it is about to become completely lawful to watch it in the UK without a VPN.

[ripryan1971 0]

4 hours ago, kick it off said:

Yep did it every game pretty much last season except the 10 or so i went to.

Thanks for your reply Happy New Year to you all

[kick it off 1,952]

27 minutes ago, ripryan1971 said:

Thanks for your reply Happy New Year to you all

No worries - happy new year to you too.

Top tip when sorting this - the debit card has to be saved/linked to the account first.

[Van wink 2,994]

Shocking work by the cameraman today, much too narrow view with the result he was moving the camera too quickly and blurring everything. 

And I've bought this 55 inch and was expecting to see the whole pitch!

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Shocking work by the cameraman today, much too narrow view with the result he was moving the camera too quickly and blurring everything. 

And I've bought this 55 inch and was expecting to see the whole pitch!

It was dreadful. Why it couldn't have been a bit further away I don't know but it was too close at times and you just kept seeing tops of heads.

See, this is the difference. Affluent Norfolk goes for 55inch and I just scraped in with 50inch in poor, destitute Cornwall. And half the screen is out the window because our rooms are so tiny.

[Van wink 2,994]

Well you say that KG but we dont have the benefit of all that there radon to keep us warm😉

[Creative Midfielder 1,996]

55 minutes ago, Van wink said:

Well you say that KG but we dont have the benefit of all that there radon to keep us warm😉

And you both fared better than me - couldn't even get a match pass again!!

So missed the start, got commentary only for most of the first half until some other good streams appeared.

So quite frustrating but saved a bit of cash and still got to watch the more enjoyable half of the game 😀

[Creative Midfielder 1,996]

55 minutes ago, Van wink said:

Well you say that KG but we dont have the benefit of all that there radon to keep us warm😉

And you both fared better than me - couldn't even get a match pass again!!

So missed the start, got commentary only for most of the first half until some other good streams appeared.

So quite frustrating but saved a bit of cash and still got to watch the more enjoyable half of the game 😀

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Well you say that KG but we dont have the benefit of all that there radon to keep us warm

Everything under my house belongs to Prince Charles and his heirs. When they say you own your land, it is only as deep as a garden fork will go in. So I daren't tap into the radon supplies in case I get a bill.

To keep warm down here, I suck a Victory V and they sit around my tongue. I did suck a Fisherman's Friend but that's another matter.

[Making Plans 936]

I honestly don't know why you all bother chucking your money down the drain for this garbage.

Been following these threads and it's so hit & miss that it is a complete rip off.

When iFollow does actually work there's usually a free stream somewhere and when it doesn't there's always Radio Norfolk.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Making Plans

[Creative Midfielder 1,996]

3 minutes ago, Making Plans said:

I honestly don't know why you all bother chucking your money down the drain for this garbage.

Been following these threads it's so hit & miss and it's a complete rip off.

When iFollow does actually work there's usually a free stream and when it doesn't there's always Radio Norfolk.

I'm certainly coming round to that point of view.

The iFollow website has always been a bit cranky but last season, and even earlier this season you could generally get there even if it took a few attempts, so TBH paying a fiver for two or three of us to watch what was normally a good stream seemed perfectly reasonable. But recently it seems to have deteriorated to the point where it's just not worth bothering with.

 

[kick it off 1,952]

I have watched every single game except ones ive been to for a year and a half. The only disruption to that was when they started the adblock conflict which i resolved in 30 mins. I never have issues with it and watch every game in HD without having to scrabble about hoping and looking for a stream.

Its perfectly reliable if you have it set up properly so not really sure what youre on about MP. I went today so cant comment on the camera work though.

[Creative Midfielder 1,996]

Well I definitely know what he's on about - even last season when I was generally getting it OK, iFollow problem posts were a regular occurrence on the matchdays threads and sometimes specific threads as well. As I said over the last few weeks I've gone from a fairly reliable access to it to no access at for the last few games, yet my set up hasn't changed so that is not the whole story. The fact that so many people have such different experiences also suggests to me that there are other factors, especially as there is really nothing much to the setup.

What I have done is try other PCs and use them to also try different combinations of VPNs, browsers etc none of which has made any difference, which is starting to make me think that the ISP people use may be one of the factors in the equation, but TBH whilst the free streams are a bit hit and miss that rather goes with the territory but with a paid for service I don't think its acceptable even for something I badly want to see.

[Van wink 2,994]

17 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Well I definitely know what he's on about - even last season when I was generally getting it OK, iFollow problem posts were a regular occurrence on the matchdays threads and sometimes specific threads as well. As I said over the last few weeks I've gone from a fairly reliable access to it to no access at for the last few games, yet my set up hasn't changed so that is not the whole story. The fact that so many people have such different experiences also suggests to me that there are other factors, especially as there is really nothing much to the setup.

What I have done is try other PCs and use them to also try different combinations of VPNs, browsers etc none of which has made any difference, which is starting to make me think that the ISP people use may be one of the factors in the equation, but TBH whilst the free streams are a bit hit and miss that rather goes with the territory but with a paid for service I don't think its acceptable even for something I badly want to see.

I suspect the problem is with the VPN you are using, I have been using a free one, and then a free trial but today paid for one and it was fine. We cant really complain cos we shouldnt have any access to it at all in the UK. 

[westcoastcanary 173]

I'm with kick it off on this one. I have absolutely no problems at all with access to iFollow from here in the US. Once the teething problems were overcome when the service was first introduced, I have found it 100% reliable. Anyone using a VPN to mask their true location in order to watch a Saturday afternoon game is likely to run into more and more problems as the EFL's blacklist of VPNs grows. That apart, if you have problems, the cause is most likely to be with your own set up, not iFollow (that diagnosis being based on years of experience running websites and dealing with complaints about them "not working"). 

Edited January 12, 2019 by westcoastcanary

[kick it off 1,952]

I agree entirely about VPN being the major issue.

Creative Midfielder - try Browsec - I'll be stunned if it doesn't immediately resolve your complaint. ISP won't make a difference as no ISP (I'm aware of) blocks you from using a VPN, and Ifollow doesn't know who your ISP is as the VPN masks it.