Kiwi football fans, who say they were given a raw deal by Sky TV for too long, have welcomed a new player to the broadcasting market.
Following news that Sky had lost the rights to broadcast next season's English Premier League, new boys Coliseum Sports Media, who won them, called a press conference in Auckland today to outline its intentions.
Coliseum founder and chief executive Tim Martin described the company's rights acquisition as "great news for football fans''.
It appears the fans see it that way too.
Guy Smith, spokesman for Wellington Phoenix fan group Yellow Fever, said the feeling among members was they were sick of Sky.
"I think overall the sentiment is that Sky have been shithouse to us over a number of years and we'd be pretty glad to see the back of them,'' Smith said.
"So hopefully in the medium term it'll promote good competition in this space, which might be good for the game.
"You're talking about Sky and you're talking about an organisation that isn't showing the Confederations Cup, isn't showing the under-20s World Cup, has delayed Phoenix games in the past to accommodate other sports. It doesn't show All Whites games all the time, has charged New Zealand Football money to show domestic games in the past, so it's given football a pretty crap run.''
Coliseum's acquisition of the rights means fans can pay $149 per annum to watch any English Premier League game live on PremierLeaguePass.com with 250 of those available on-demand. Certain broadcast details are still to be finalised.
Coliseum may add more content in the future but TVNZ will screen one game delayed per week on a Sunday and a one-hour highlights package too.
Smith said he would likely pay for the Premier League Pass and expected other "football nutcases like me'' to follow suit.
Sky TV has the rights to the A-League and recently announced a more thorough offering of All Whites and Football Ferns games for the future.
Football media consultant Jamie Scott said there was a distinct possibility people may keep their Sky subscription but drop the sports package to purchase the Premier League Pass.
"I'd weigh up the cost of the sport component as opposed to the Premier League Pass, what's available on Sommet now as well seeing they've got the [English] Championship and probably head to the pub to watch All Whites games or to the ground.''
New Kiwi provider Sommet sports posted a message on its Twitter account today that read: "Our football rights are: Europa League, Football League, League Cup, Bundesliga, Chelsea TV, Argentinian League, plus lots of FA Cups.''
Sky's announcement on its Facebook page last night that it had missed out on the rights to the English Premier League was generally met with vitriol.
Nick Snedden commented: "Sky TV is a disgrace. One of the most watched sports competitions in the world and we don't have it. We don't have La Liga, Seria A [sic] etc, no Confederations Cup, no Europa League. As a football fan, what do we need Sky Sports for? College Rugby and Netball.....joke.''
