Armchair Fans Fund Football

Being called an armchair fan is an insult. This derogatory term, if given to you, means that you do not support your team enough and is a means of questioning not only whether you support the club but whether you should support them. It almost feels like being told that the club do not need someone like you supporting the them.
 Fulham fan complains as BT Vision camera ruins his view of the match

However, armchair fans are a crucial part of football nowadays. There are two reasons why they have become more fervent:

The cost and demand for a match day ticket has become astronomical for some people.

The game has become so global that fans can come from all corners of the globe meaning that Television coverage is more readily available.    

As seen in the image, though, there are the negative connotations of television coverage. Less fans come to the games causing a lack of atmosphere and the cameras need to be placed somewhere which means that views can be impaired.
                                         
Television rights and coverage is, in spite of the above, far too crucial to be stopped because of complaints such as this. This is because of the rise of the armchair fan as the cost of football becomes unbearable.

At the start of the 2013/4 season in the Premier League, contradictory to common belief. the average for the most expensive adult season ticket fell 1.6% (from £546.30 in 2012 to £537.60 in 2013). The average for the cheapest adult match-day ticket is down 1.9% (from £21.24 to £20.85). The average for the most expensive adult match-day ticket dropped around 1% (from £34.11 to £33.81).

These prices are still tough to afford for people. It is also not just the price themselves but also the price of travel to get there. Fuel plays a key part in travel costs and as the table below demonstrates this is becoming ever more expensive.

Month	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
January	87.3p	104.0p	87.0p	111.4p	127.9p	133.3p	132.7p
February	86.7p	104.3p	90.2p	112.1p	128.7p	135.1p	137.1p
March	89.4p	106.4p	90.8p	115.6p	132.2p	138.9p	138.8p
April	92.6p	108.1p	94.8p	120.5p	134.7p	141.9p	136.7p
May	95.6p	112.5p	97.7p	121.0p	136.7p	137.9p	133.9p
June	96.9p	117.6p	102.2p	118.2p	135.7p	133.1p	134.6p
July	96.7p	118.7p	103.0p	117.3p	134.9p	132.1p	135.7p
August	96.0p	113.4p	103.9p	116.2p	135.5p	135.9p	137.5p
September	95.3p	112.0p	106.2p	115.3p	135.4p	139.6p	137.7p
October	97.7p	104.7p	105.7p	117.4p	134.6p	138.5p	132.4p
November	101.1p	94.9p	108.4p	118.9p	133.8p	135.3p	130.6p
December	102.8p	89.5p	108.2p	122.0p	132.5p	132.7p	131.0p

Source petrolprices.com

With growing concerns in the Crimea region prices in Oil could well increase. This also comes with a 2.8% increase in train prices meaning that those able to get to games has become harder.

It is not just the financial loss in going to games, there is also the emotional loss that comes with prioritising a live football match rather than spending time with loved ones.

Time spent at home watching a game last 2 hours, the time spent watching a game live a the ground lasts over 5 hours at least with whole weekends sometimes being taken up.

The money that clubs now get from television rights means that viewership is incredibly crucial. The amount that television companies make in revenue is dependent on selling ad space with the cost of this space heavily dependent on viewership.

With the changes in sport broadcasting it is key for clubs that BT and BSkyB continue to have strong viewership.

BT bought a large proportion of televised football rights, boosting this Premier League season's TV deal to a record £3 billion over three years, a 71% increase.

This has a major impact for every club in the Premier League as it equates to at least £14 million more per year for each football club.

Without these armchair fans there would not be this amount of money available. Many of these fans either cannot afford the games or cannot afford the time to watch the games but still watch the games on television. Do not discredit the armchair fan but make sure that they watch as much football on the television as possible.