England’s World Cup qualifier exclusively on Internet

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England’s World Cup qualifier exclusively on Internet

This Saturday’s England World Cup qualifier against Ukraine will be screened exclusively live over the Internet on a pay-per-view basis, the first time this has happened. The match was originally to be screened by Setanta, whose UK operation failed earlier this year. Because England have already qualified for next year’s tournament with two games to spare, no other UK broadcaster was interested in paying for the rights.

England fans wishing to view the game online will have to pay £4.99 if they book before Thursday, when the price will rise to £9.99, and £11.99 on the day of the match. The game can be watched live at the Odeon cinema chain across the country, but will not be available in pubs.

The game kicks off at 1615 UTC, but coverage on the Internet starts at 1545 UTC.

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England game to stream exclusively online


Monday, October 5 2009,

By Andrew Laughlin,


England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine will be broadcast exclusively online via pay-per-view for the first time ever.

TV rights to screen the game were previously owned by collapsed Irish broadcaster Setanta in a deal brokered by international agency Kentaro.

However, no TV operator has since moved to pick up the available rights, largely because England has already qualified for the tournament in South Africa next year.

Kentaro has therefore appointed digital agency Perform to screen coverage of the game on October 10 from Ukraine's Dnipro Arena exclusively on the internet.

Subscription is available on a dedicated website at £4.99 until the end of October 7. It will then increase to £9.99 on Thursday and Friday before peaking at £11.99 for purchases made on the day of the game.

Starting at 4.45pm, coverage will be presented by James Richardson and former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. Commentary will come from Tony Jones and David Pleat.

The game will also be made available on the websites of selected newspapers and internet service providers, including The Sun, The Times, News of the World, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The Daily Star, The Independent, Virgin Media and Orange.

All pricing on these websites will be the same as on the main site, but users can watch the game for free if they set up and fund an account at Bet365.

"Over 20 Million people in the UK regularly use the internet to watch sport," said Kentaro Group chief executive Philipp Grothe.

"The mainstream adoption of broadband and the growing popularity of online viewing is now a realistic alternative to old-fashioned TV broadcasting."

Perform chief executive Andrew Croker added: "Millions of people around the world follow live sports online and this shows a real sign of the times - we're extremely excited to be involved in this landmark event."

Kentaro has also sealed an agreement with Arts Alliance Media to show the game at selected cinemas around the UK, including the Odeon chain. However, the match will not be shown in any pubs.

Peter Silverstone, Kentaro UK managing director, commented: "To support the internet broadcast we will stage big screen events for fans around the country and our partnership with Arts Alliance Media will give thousands of cinema-goers the chance to enjoy the key game en masse."

However, the move has not gone down well with fans who believe that all England games should be available on free-to-air television. Speaking to BBC News, England fan Mark Perryman described the move as "disastrous and an outrage".

"A World Cup qualifier should be available for everybody on free-to-air TV," he said.

"It seems to me there's a very simple solution - FIFA and UEFA should insist as a condition of entry that all nations sell their games to terrestrial stations, whether it's the home or away market."