Football in New Zealand is about to have a huge spotlight shone on it, thanks to the All Whites playoff with Peru next month, yet the available footage from games has been slashed to the barest minimum.
It’s bad for supporters, who are now pretty much back to the situation prior to Sky’s involvement.
Want to see how your team played in the away game you couldn’t afford to get to because it’s down in Dunedin or up in Auckland? Sorry, just the goals from that game.
The wonder-save your keeper made, excitedly reported upon by the clubs Twitter? Sorry, just the goals from that game.
Skills, near misses, red cards, incidents? Yeah, sorry, just the goals from that game.
It’s bad for clubs, who shared the YouTube highlights packages of their individual games on their Facebook and Twitter feeds – providing something for their followers to share out, comment on, like and view. The videos from last season all get into viewcounts that far exceed the attendances of matches.
It’s bad for players too, who had used the highlights to create their own showreels of their skills and talents, the better to impress scouts in the quest for overseas deals. Here’s Stephen Hoyle’s goals, Zac Speedy’s saves.
It’s bad for those of us who desperately want to promote the game on Twitter, who spend our time making gifs of great moments, goals and, er, not so great moments – pushing out the word that New Zealand has a football championship and it can be bloody good fun to watch.