Niall McCaughan, Tom Williams, Joe McGrath and Norman Riley all appeared on the most recent edition of the Football Social Daily podcast where they discussed all of the latest Premier League news and they spent some time talking about Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s recent comments on the Premier League’s pay-per-view pricing during the show.
This month, the Premier League made games that weren’t selected for television broadcast available for fans to watch via pay-per-view. These pay-per-view games have been priced at £14.95, which has drawn a negative reaction from many football fans.
Toon owner Ashley recently released a statement via Newcastle United’s official website in which he called for the Premier League to lower the price of these games, stating that “it is not acceptable to any football fan” to charge that much for a single game “in the current climate” and asking the English top-flight to make games “more accessible at £4.95 per match until Christmas.”
The panel discussed Ashley’s statement during this recent edition of the Football Social Daily podcast and McGrath shared that he thinks there are “hidden agendas” behind the businessman’s comments, saying:
“It’s a comment that he can say and probably try and make himself seem like this ‘man of the people’ but I think, judging by my understanding, Newcastle United fans are still getting charged for their season tickets.
“If Newcastle fans are chipping away at this £15 to watch their team on Sky, he might be worried that people turn around and go, ‘actually, I’m going to cancel my season ticket because I can’t see the end of this.’
“So, there [are] hidden agendas behind it, because there always is. He’s a business man, isn’t he? There’s always money at the heart of what people say.”
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TIF Thoughts on what McGrath had to say about Ashley’s comments…
Judging by what McGrath had to say, it’s clear that he doesn’t think Ashley has criticised the Premier League’s pay-per-view pricing out of the goodness of his heart, though the podcaster suggested that the Toon owner may be trying to make it seem that way.
Instead, it seems that McGrath thinks Ashley is acting in his own interests as he is concerned that the Premier League’s pay-per-view pricing could lead to Toon fans cancelling their season tickets, which would then impact his and his club’s earnings.
To Ashley’s credit, Newcastle have very recently announced that fans will be receiving refunds for their season tickets – though the Magpies were the last Premier League club to provide any sort of clarity on the matter while games were being played behind closed doors last season.
Given that Ashley has a ‘ruthless reputation,’ it may be understandable why McGrath thinks this is the more likely reason behind his statement. However, it may still be good for supporters that the businessman did criticise the pay-per-view pricing, given that plenty of Premier League fans are also said to have issues with it.
If he were successful in convincing the English top flight to lower their pricing then maybe it would still benefit the fans who want to watch games via pay-per-view, regardless of his motives.